The  Rescue  Series 


THE  SEMI-ATTACHED  COUPLE 


The  Rescue  Series 

I.  THE  BACHELOR  OF  THE  ALBANY 
By  Marmion  Savage.  With  an  In- 
troduction by  BONAMY  DOBR^E. 

II.  THE  HEROINE. 

By  Eaton  Stannard  Barrett.     With 
an  Introduction  by  Michael  Sadleir. 

III.  THE  SEMI -ATTACHED  COUPLE 
By  the  Hon.  Emily  Eden.  With  an 
Introduction  by  John  Gore. 


THE 
SEMI-ATTACHED    COUPLE 

BY   THE 

HON.   EMILY  EDEN 

WITH    AN   INTRODUCTION    BY 

JOHN  GORE 


NEW   YORK 

FREDERICK  A.  STOKES   COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


VlT^o!  c^.(>.Mn 


Printed  in  Great  Britain  by  Richard  Clay  &  Sons,  Ltd.,  Bungay,  Suffolk, 


INTRODUCTION  r^A/A/ 


The  world,  created  and  peopled  by  Jane  Austen,  is 
imperfect  only  in  being  too  small.  We  pass  through  the 
magic  door  into  fairyland,  and  hardly  have  we  shed  the 
muddy  vesture  of  our  vulgar,  strident  conflict  beyond, 
than  we  find  ourselves  once  more  faced  with  the  necessity 
of  resuming  it.  What  would  not  those  of  us  who  love 
Pride  and  Prejudice  give  for  the  discovery  of  another  half- 
dozen  novels  by  the  same  hand,  comparable  with  it? 

A  year  or  two  back,  with  a  presumption  which  it  now 
unnerves  me  to  recall,  I  endeavoured  in  the  columns  of  the 
London  Mercury  to  spring  upon  the  literary  fancy  a  forgotten 
rival  to  Jane  Austen.  I  argued  with  Mr.  Birrell  that  "  to 
admire  by  tradition  is  a  poor  thing.  Far  better  really  to 
admire  Miss  Gabblegoose's  novels  than  pretend  to  admire 
Miss  Austen's,"  and  I  undertook  to  produce  a  lost  novel 
by  another  hand  which  would  recreate  the  enchanted 
atmosphere  of  Pride  and  Prejudice  in  some  measure  and 
might  even  justify,  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  appreciate 
Mr.  Birrell's  courage,  the  bold  verdict,  "  Better  than 
Sense  and  Sensibility,^^ 

And  now  the  bread  so  light-heartedly  thrown  on  the 
waters  has  returned  to  me  after  many  days  and  I  am  called 
on  to  make  good  my  boast  to  a  wider  and  necessarily  more 
critical  public. 

Emily  Eden,  the  author  of  The  Semi-attached  Couple^  was 
one  of  fourteen  children  of  the  first  Lord  Auckland.  The 
seventh  daughter,  she  was  born  at  Westminster  on  March 
3rd,  1797. 

V 


ivi  1.04  353 


vi  INTRODUCTION 

Her  father's  diplomatic  career  entailed  constant  wander- 
ings abroad,  and  wherever  the  multiplying  family  bestowed 
itself,  it  received  unstinted  praise  and  admiration  as  a 
model  of  domestic  harmony,  enlightenment  and  ideals. 

The  children  owed  everything  to  their  mother,  a  sister 
of  the  first  Lord  Minto,  who  supervised  their  early  educa- 
tion with  all  the  energy  and  determination  with  which  she 
guarded  their  health  and  morals.  She  confessed  that 
"  out  of  fourteen,  I  suckled  thirteen.  Eleven  of  the 
children  had  small-pox  during  their  wanderings,  also 
cow-pox,  whooping-cough,  measles  and  scarlet  fever." 
We  know  from  Emily  that  before  she  was  eleven,  she  had 
read  Boswell's  Johnson,  the  Memoirs  of  Cardinal  Retz, 
and  Shakespeare;  and  had  committed  to  memory  a 
great  part  of  the  Bible. 

Small  wonder  that  when  Lady  Auckland  died  in  1818, 
she  had  married  off  six  of  her  daughters  in  a  manner 
eminently  satisfactory  to  a  proud  Whig  lady,  and  from 
among  them  had  provided  William  Pitt  with  the  only  love 
of  his  life  in  the  person  of  Eleanor,  Lady  Buckinghamshire. 
At  their  mother's  death,  Emily  and  Fanny  set  up  house 
with  their  eldest  brother  George  and,  on  his  appointment 
as  Governor-General  in  1835,  accompanied  him  to  India, 
where  they  remained  until  1842. 

George,  Lord  Auckland,  died  in  1849  and  Fanny  in  the 
same  year.  For  the  remaining  twenty  years  of  her  life, 
Emily  Eden  lived  at  Eden  Lodge,  Kensington  Gore, 
passing  her  days  in  seeing  her  many  friends,  corresponding 
with  them,  writing  her  books  and  providing  for  her  Whig 
circle  a  centre  of  political  and  literary  interests  which, 
despite  her  ill  health,  held  together  while  she  lived. 

She  died  at  Richmond  on  August  5th,  1869,  and  is 
buried  at  Beckenham. 

All  her  life  Emily  Eden  moved  in  the  select  and  exclusive 
Whig  circle  which  had  its  headquarters  at  the  beginning 


INTRODUCTION  vii 

of  the  nineteenth  century  at  Holland  House,  Bowood  and 
a  dozen  other  great  country  houses,  and  passed  the  Reform 
Bill  from  Brooks'  Club,  transferring  with  wonderful 
illogicality  a  share  of  their  exclusive  privileges  to  the 
middle  classes,  which  above  all  others  it  was  their  habit 
and  recreation  to  ridicule  and  despise. 

She  possessed  all  the  prejudices  of  her  class,  the  con- 
vinced belief  that  the  few  great  families  to  whom  she  was 
drawn  or  related  were  a  race  apart,  and  that  every  other 
family  and  class  in  the  State  belonged  to  a  lower  order  of 
the  animal  creation.  She  accompanied  her  brother  to 
India  because  she  possessed  a  fine  sense  of  duty  and  because 
she  loved  him,  but  she  regarded  the  task  imposed  on  her 
precisely  as  a  banishment  for  a  period  of  years  to  a  colony 
of  gibbering  apes,  and  at  first  she  rarely  left  the  grounds  of 
the  Viceregal  residences,  or  showed  even  the  most  genteel 
curiosity  about  the  wonders  around  her  and  the  lives  of 
those  who  administered  that  portion  of  the  Empire.  Her 
heart  remained  in  the  West  End  of  London,  and  in  the 
drawing-rooms  at  Bowood — a  cosmos  quite  large  enough 
for  a  Whig  lady  of  fashion  of  that  day. 

Subsequently  the  glamour  of  the  East  conquered  her, 
and  her  two  books  on  India,  Portraits  of  the  People  (1844) 
and  Up  the  Country  (1866)  were  widely  read. 

Miss  Eden  was  no  Miss  Gabblegoose.  She  was  a  keen 
politician,  clever,  witty,  shrewd,  critical,  well-informed, 
the  friend  of  the  great  men  of  the  day,  such  as  Melbourne, 
and  Monkton  Milnes  who  greatly  admired  her  novels. 
Her  letters  *  have  been  published,  and  reveal  those  qualities 
of  shrewd  observation  and  wit  which  are  especially  brought 
out  in  correspondence  with  her  friend,  Lady  Campbell, 
daughter  of  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald. 

As  a  novelist.  Miss  Eden  set  little  store  by  her  work,  and 
must  have  suffered  from  the  fact  that,  at  the  time  she  began 
*  Edited  by  her  great-niece,  Miss  Violet  Dickinson. 


viii  INTRODUCTION 

to  write,  professionalism  in  a  woman  of  fashion  was  not 
good  form.  The  distant  memory  of  Georgiana,  Duchess 
of  Devonshire,  and  the  more  recent  memory  of  Lady 
Carohne  Lamb,  had  brought  about  a  fierce  reaction 
towards  reticence  and  retirement  among  ladies  in  society. 
In  the  autumn  of  1834,  Miss  Eden  was  living  with  her 
brother  at  Ham  Cottage,  very  anxious  for  a  little  money 
to  spare  to  the  furnishing  of  a  country  cottage  of  her  own. 
*'  I  wish,^'  she  wrote  to  Mrs.  Lister,  "  I  could  write  like 
Mrs.  Hannah  More,  and  have  money  enough  to  build 
myself  a  Barley  Wood."  She  was,  moreover,  stimulated 
to  emulation  by  the  publication  of  Ann  Grey,  which  at  the 
time  she  believed  was  the  anonymous  work  of  her  friend. 
The  Semi-attached  Couple  resulted,  but  remained  for  near 
thirty  years  in  a  drawer  before  her  friends  persuaded  her 
to  revise  and  give  it  to  the  world. 

Miss  Eden's  first  novel.  The  Semi-detached  House,  was 
published  in  1859,  under  the  editorship  of  Lady  Theresa 
Lewis  (the  Mrs.  Lister  above  mentioned  who  inspired  and 
encouraged  the  composition  of  the  Semi-attached  Couple). 
Bentley,  the  publisher,  offered  her  £250  for  the  book, 
but  she  successfully  stood  out  for  £300.  It  was  well 
reviewed  in  the  Globe,  but  not  noticed  in  The  Times,  which 
did  not  then  "  stoop  to  single-volume  novels."  Her 
friends,  of  course,  were  delighted  with  it ;  Lord  Lansdowne 
and  Locock  wrote  enthusiastically,  and  Sidney  Herbert 
called  in  person  to  report  the  appreciation  of  Pall  Mall. 
Its  success  surprised  and  pleased  her,  and  doubtless 
encouraged  her  to  revise  and  complete  the  long-neglected 
Semi-attached,  which  duly  appeared  in  the  following  year. 
It  was  received  with  equal  warmth,  and  is  on  the  whole 
the  more  attractive  of  the  two  novels.  In  the  last  of  Miss 
Eden's  published  letters  she  refers  to  the  quantity  of  appre- 
ciations which  she  possessed,  notably  "  a  grand  one  from 
Lord  Houghton  in  praise  of  my  pure  and  facile  English." 


INTRODUCTION  ix 

In  plot  and  characterization  The  Semi-attached  Couple  is  a 
curious  parallel  to  Pride  and  Prejudice^  and  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  Miss  Austen's  masterpiece — which  had  appeared 
in  1813  and  was  at  length  beginning,  like  its  lamented 
author,  to  secure  the  highest  recognition — was  not  absent 
from  Miss  Eden's  consciousness  when  she  wrote,  and  that 
the  Douglas  family  had  their  origin  in  the  Bennets.  This 
view  is  supported  by  the  text,  where  reference  is  made  to 
the  current  novels  of  the  day,  and  Pride  and  Prejudice  is 
singled  out  for  special  mention.  If  it  be  argued  that  Miss 
Austen  depicted  the  social  life  of  a  generation  preceding 
Miss  Eden's,  it  must  be  remembered  that  Miss  Eden's 
novel  was  actually  written  only  twenty  years  after  the 
publication  of  Pride  and  Prejudice,  and  that  however  violent 
the  changes  during  that  period  in  the  social  life  and  thought 
of  London  Society,  these  convulsions  reacted  very  little 
on  the  dull  and  ordered  existence  of  the  lesser  country 
house.  The  movements  to  break  down  social  barriers 
and  conventions,  to  secure  freedom  for  thought  and  action, 
and  emancipation  for  women,  progressed  very  much  more 
slowly  than  is  commonly  believed.  It  was  in  the  interval 
between  the  writing  and  the  publication  of  The  Semi- 
attached  Couple  that  the  revolution  in  social  life  began 
universally  to  be  seen  and  its  direct  expression  to  be 
observable  in  literature,  and  in  her  preface  Miss  Eden 
admits  that  she  is  aware  of  the  change. 

The  story  deals  with  the  family  life  of  the  proud  and 
aristocratic  Eskdale  family,  and  of  their  humbler  neighbours, 
the  Douglas  family.  The  plot,  which  is  admirably  simple, 
turns  on  the  marital  misunderstandings  that  arise  in  the 
first  few  months  of  the  married  life  of  Helen  Beaufort, 
the  youngest  of  the  three  lovely  daughters  of  Lord  and 
Lady  Eskdale.  Helen,  the  most  adored  of  an  adoring  and 
self-sufficient  family,  marries  "  out  of  the  schoolroom," 
and  entirely  as  a  matter  of  pre-ordained  destiny,  "  Lord 


X  INTRODUCTION 

Teviot,  the  great  parti  of  the  year,  with  five  country  houses 
— being  four  more  than  he  could  Hve  in,  with  ^^  120,000  a 
year — being  ,^30,000  less  than  he  could  spend,  with 
diamonds  that  had  been  collected  by  the  last  ten  generations 
of  Teviots,  and  a  yacht  that  had  been  built  by  himself, 
with  the  rank  of  a  marquess,  and  the  good  looks  of  the 
poorest  of  younger  brothers." 

Spoilt  from  the  cradle,  having  every  craving  instantly 
satisfied,  Teviot  is  violently  and  passionately  in  love. 
The  very  strength  of  his  passion  frightens  and  puzzles  the 
child  wife,  whose  only  experience  of  love  hitherto  has 
been  the  devotion  of  an  adoring  family,  and  her  continued 
interest  in  the  home  from  which  her  early  marriage  has 
torn  her  is  more  than  sufficient  to  send  him  into  paroxysms 
of  jealousy  and  to  build  up  a  barrier  of  misunderstandings. 

There  is  in  the  character  of  Teviot,  which  is  drawn  with 
less  than  Miss  Eden's  usual  sureness,  more  than  a  touch  of 
Darcy;  that  selfishness  "  in  practice  but  not  in  theory  "  is 
common  to  both  the  young  men,  and  though  Teviot  had 
not,  like  Darcy,  fallen  in  love  "  beneath  him,"  a  pride, 
bred  of  spoiling  and  flattery  from  childhood,  led  him 
remorselessly  to  learn  the  bitter  lesson  from  a  young  and 
inexperienced  girl. 

The  estrangement,  which  is  widened  on  one  side  by  the 
malice  of  an  egotistical  woman  of  fashion.  Lady  Portmore, 
and  on  the  other  by  the  machinations  of  a  roue,  is  finally 
ended  by  a  severe  illness  and  worldly  misfortunes  which 
threaten  Teviot.  He  recovers  his  health  and  property,  and 
with  them  the  love  of  his  young  and  lovely  wife.  Minor 
plots  are  interwoven  with  the  *love  affairs  of  Helen's 
brother,  Lord  Beaufort,  and  her  friend  Mary,  and  of 
Helen's  cousin,  Ernest  Beaufort,  and  Eliza  Douglas. 

The  Semi-attached  Couple  is  a  gold  mine  to  the  social 
historian.  It  gives  an  unrivalled  picture  of  the  family  life 
of  a  great  Whig  family  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth 


INTRODUCTION  xi 

century,  and  few  who  take  it  up  will  deny  its  charm  and 
humour,  or  manage  to  resist  the  peculiar  "  atmosphere  " 
with  which  Miss  Eden  has  invested  her  story. 

Miss  Austen  laid  her  characters,  for  the  most  part, 
a  degree  lower  in  the  social  scale,  and  seldom  turned 
her  attention  to  the  aristocracy,  whom  she  usually  por- 
trayed in  caricature.  Miss  Eden,  on  the  other  hand, 
frankly  despised  the  middle  classes  and  the  landed  gentry, 
and  depicted  intimately  the  life  of  her  own  exclusive  world, 
and  could  yet  draw,  a  thing  which,  curiously,  Miss  Austen 
never  once  attempted,  the  characters  of  servants  with 
brilliance  of  touch  and  a  knowledge  of  flunkeiana  which 
Thackeray  might  have  envied. 

It  has  been  said  of  Miss  Austen  that  if,  by  her  upbringing, 
she  was  shielded  from  the  truth,  very  little  of  the  truth  was 
shielded  from  her.  And  it  has  been  said  that  genius  means 
nothing  more  than  the  power  of  guessing  right.  Miss 
Austen  is  acknowledged  as  a  genius,  and  genius  is  not 
claimed  for  Miss  Eden.  The  latter  knew  her  world,  and 
knew,  from  experience  at  any  rate,  considerably  more 
about  life,  men  and  women,  than  did  Miss  Austen. 

The  genius  of  Miss  Austen  made  up  for  her  inexperience 
by  accurate  guessing.  It  is  claimed  for  Miss  Eden  that 
by  a  power  of  selecting  judiciously  from  her  own  wide 
experience,  she  was  sometimes  able  to  accomplish  what  the 
genius  of  Miss  Austen  accomplished.  It  is  best  to  be  a 
good  guesser — a  genius.  It  is  better  to  be  a  judicious  and 
clever  photographer  than  an  indifferent  guesser.  Miss 
Eden's  description  of  Teviot's  feelings  in  the  height  of  his 
passion  reveals  the  fact  that  she  knew  a  good  deal  about 
men,  and,  like  Miss  Austen,  little  of  the  truth  was  shielded 
from  her. 

Her  style  is  easy,  and  falls  into  a  graceful  and  natural 
antithesis,  and  everywhere  abounds  in  humour.  It  is  not 
my  intention  to  quote  at  any  length  from  the  pages  that 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

follow,  but  one  short  example  of  Miss  Eden's  methods  will 
best  illustrate  my  point.  The  whole  neighbourhood  is  on 
tip-toe  of  expectation  to  see  Lord  Teviot,  who  is  rumoured 
to  be  at  the  castle. 

'*  It  was  obvious  to  the  whole  neighbourhood  that  the  Eskdales 
wished  to  avoid  observation  by  coming  early  to  church,  for  they  arrived 
before  the  end  of  the  first  lesson — a  most  unusual  degree  of  punctuality ; 
but  this  sign  of  timidity  did  not  prevent  the  whole  congregation  from 
fixing  their  eyes  intently  on  the  tall  young  man  who  followed  Lord 
Eskdale  into  church,  and  took  a  seat  opposite  to  Lady  Helen  in  the 
pew.  Moreover,  Lady  Helen  dropped  her  prayer-book,  and  the  tall 
young  man  picked  it  up  for  her.  Such  an  incident !  Mrs.  Thompson, 
as  usual,  missed  it,  because  she  was,  unluckily,  tying  her  little  girl's 
bonnet-strings.  When  Lady  Helen  came  out,  leaning  on  her  father's 
arm,  and  Lady  Eskdale  followed,  attended  by  the  tall  young  man,  and 
when  they  had  all  bowed  and  curtsied,  and  got  into  the  open  carriage 
.  .  .  nothing  could  exceed  the  gratification  of  the  assembly. 

"  Lord  Teviot  was  exactly  what  they  expected,  so  very  distinguished 
and  so  good-looking.  Some  thought  him  too  attentive  to  his  prayers 
for  a  man  in  love,  and  some  thought  him  too  attentive  to  Lady  Helen 
for  a  man  in  church,  but  eventually  the  two  factions  joined,  and  thought 
him  simply  very  attentive." 

And  then  it  turned  out  that  Lord  Teviot  had  gone  up  to 
London  on  Saturday,  and  that  the  "  observed  of  all 
observers  "  was  an  architect  come  down  to  complete  the 
statue  gallery. 

"  The  reaction  was  frightful,  and,  as  usual  in  all  cases  of  reaction,  the 
odium  feU  on  the  wrong  man.  The  architect,  who  was,  in  fact,  an 
awkward,  ungainly  concern,  remained  in  possession  of  distinguished 
looks  .  .  .  and  it  was  generally  asserted  that  Lord  Teviot  kept  out  of 
the  way — as  he  was  quite  aware  of  being  ill-looking ;  that  he  was  not 
attached  in  the  smallest  degree  to  Lady  Helen,  or  he  would  not  have 
gone  to  London;  and  that  he  was  very  unprincipled,  not  to  say  an 
atheist,  or  he  would  have  gone  to  church." 

So  much  for  Miss  Eden's  style.  Her  abounding  humour 
is  dehcate  but  by  no  means  bloodless,  and  the  reader  will 
probably  agree  with  me  that  the  passage  of  arms  between 
Lady  Portmore  and  Mrs.  Douglas  shows  it  mixed  as  richly 
and  robustly  as  could  be  desired. 

With  servants  she  could  accomplish  what  Miss  Austen 


INTRODUCTION  xiii 

never  attempted,  dared  not  even  guess;  and  the  letter 
from  Lady  Teviot's  maid  to  Lady  Eskdale's  maid,  written 
from  St.  Mary's,  where  the  Teviots  were  honeymooning, 
should  find  a  place  in  any  collection  of  gems  of  the  gentle 
art,  and  will  stand  for  all  time  among  the  masterpieces  of 
below-stairs  humour. 

It  is  with  the  Douglas  family  that  Miss  Eden  brings  back 
most  nearly  the  atmosphere  oi^  Pride  and  Prejudice.  Indeed, 
in  the  general  setting  of  the  home  life  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Douglas,  a  curious  literary  parallel  is  produced. 

The  spite  and  vulgarity  of  Mrs.  Douglas  irresistibly  brings 
to  mind  Mrs.  Bennet,  and  the  husbands,  small  squires, 
interested  in  their  turnips,  less  vulgar  than  their  wives, 
lazy-minded,  tolerant,  disliking  spiteful  criticism  of  their 
richer  neighbours  who  gave  such  good  dinners,  fond  of  their 
daughters,  bored  with  their  wives,  are  parallels  so  close  as 
to  leave  a  doubt  in  the  mind  of  anyone  intimately  familiar 
with  both  novels,  as  to  which  gentleman  was  squire  of 
Longbourn  and  which  of  Thornbank. 

It  is  thus  that  Miss  Eden  sketches  with  three  sure  strokes 
of  her  pencil  the  character  of  Mrs.  Douglas  : 

"  Now,  my  dear  Mr.  Douglas,  don't  go  off  on  those  tiresome  foreign 
affairs.  .  .  .  You  need  not  pretend  to  understand  national  feuds,  if  you 
have  not  found  out  what  is  passing  under  your  eyes;  but  I  cannot 
believe  it,  you  must  see  what  an  unhappy  couple  these  poor  Teviots 
are." 

"...  I  cannot  think  all  this  can  be  so,  Anne,  it  is  too  bad  to  be 
true." 

•'  Nothing  is  too  bad  to  be  true,  Mr.  Douglas,  and  nothing  is  true 
that  is  not  bad.  .  .  ." 

The  book  indeed  teems  with  neat  little  thumb-nails. 
All  the  minor  characters  are  clever  miniatures,  with  the 
exception  only  of  Lady  Portmore,  where  Miss  Eden 
departed  from  the  admirable  standard  she  set  herself  and 
laid  on  the  colours  with  a  trowel. 

Lady  Eskdale  is  triumphantly  convincing  as  she  moves 
through   life,   sheltered   from  all   but   the   mildest  winds. 


xiv  INTRODUCTION 

Fondly  addressed  as  "  dear  "  by  her  nephews,  she  inspired 
terror  in  the  breasts  of  unfortunates  not  in  the  charmed 
circle.  Eliza  Douglas,  resembling  rather  Catherine  Mor- 
land  than  any  other  of  Miss  Austen's  girls,  has  none  of  the 
wit  of  Elizabeth  Bennet.  She  owes  her  settlement  in  life 
to  a  facility  for  hero-worship  and  a  gentle  willingness  to 
please,  when,  in  a  fit  of  loneliness,  the  prematurely  bored 
Colonel  Beaufort  (Ernest,  aged  twenty-six!)  surrenders  to 
her  promise  to  fetch  and  carry  for  him  through  life,  and 
attend  to  his  farm  accounts,  as  she  does  for  papa,  in  the 
gloomy  barrack  of  an  estate  which  the  Colonel  has  seldom 
visited.  Lord  Beaufort,  Mary  Forrester,  Fisherwick,  the 
unkempt  secretary,  with  his  blind  devotion  to  his  political 
chief,  the  foreigner  more  British  than  the  Briton,  all  these 
characters  walked  in  real  life  across  the  saloons  of  Bowood, 
Chatsworth,  Panshanger,  Brocket,  Lansdowne  and  Devon- 
shire Houses. 

Miss  Eden,  proud,  diffident,  dreading  publicity,  hiding 
her  talent,  brings  this  extinct  race  before  us  with  a  sureness 
of  touch  which  has  not  received,  hitherto,  the  approbation 
which  it  is  entitled  to  expect  from  posterity. 

I  boldly  guarantee  that  the  social  historian  who  spends 
a  couple  of  hours  in  Miss  Eden's  company  will  not  waste 
his  time.  Every  chapter  will  reward  him  with  relics  of 
another  race  and  age,  extinct  as  the  Dodo.  There  is  a 
glorious  and  detailed  account  of  the  slow  progress  of  an 
election  before  the  Reform  Bill  began  to  cut  the  rottenness 
from  the  heart  of  the  Parliamentary  borough;  when 
polling  extended  beyond  one  day,  and  alternate  applications 
of  threats  and  spirits  brought  the  free  and  independent 
electors  one  by  one  to  the  presence  of  the  polling  clerk, 
when  the  ladies  openly  assisted  their  candidates  with  polite 
bribery  and  the  scene  closed  in  universal  intoxication. 
There  is  a  glimpse  of  the  life  of  young  gentlemen  of  good 
family  who  earned  a  hundred  a  year  as  clerks  in  the 


INTRODUCTION  xv 

Treasury,  and  must  needs  spend  it  and  their  private 
allowances  besides  on  the  maintenance  of  a  cab  and 
diminutive  groom,  owing  to  the  vast  size  of  London.  The 
reader  is  wafted  back  to  the  days  when  a  "  week-end  " 
party  lasted  for  a  full  month,  and  albums  and  "  a  little 
harmony  " — Views  of  Venice  and  Tom  Moore's  ballads — 
more  than  sufficed  for  the  evening's  hilarity.  And  lastly, 
the  severe  etiquette  of  the  day  is  sharply  illustrated. 
Instance  the  occasion  when  the  house  party  at  St.  Mary's 
comes  out  on  the  Terrace.  Lord  Beaufort  offers  to  walk 
with  Eliza  Douglas  down  a  garden  path,  one  hundred 
yards  in  broad  daylight,  to  join  his  sister  who  is  visible  at 
the  far  end.  Eliza  is  anxious  to  comply  with  so  agreeable 
a  proposal,  but  an  obvious  difficulty  occurs  to  them  both. 
The  plan  must  fall  through  unless  a  chaperon  is  forth- 
coming ! 

The  social  life  which  Miss  Eden  portrays  in  the  Semi- 
attached  Couple  does  indeed  belong  to  a  civilization  far  more 
strange  to  us  to-day  than  that  of  the  Pharaohs.  It  is  for 
this  reason,  I  believe,  she  will  particularly  appeal  to  a 
generation  that  ever  pines  for  something  fresh,  something 
different,  and  is  not  averse  from  finding  it  in  the  atmosphere 
of  the  early  nineteenth  century,  now  emerging  more 
brilliant  than  ever  from  its  Victorian  eclipse. 

If  I  am  right,  then  at  this  late  hour  Miss  Eden  on  her 
merits  will  obtain  from  posterity  her  fitting  place  in  the 
Outer  Hall  of  Honour.  She  herself  would  have  deprecated 
any  such  distinction — a  further  proof  of  the  remoteness  of 
her  generation — and  her  warmest  admirers  seek  no  niche 
for  her  in  the  inner  shrine  where  the  Immortals  are. 

John  Gore 


PREFACE 

This  story  was  partly  written  nearly  thirty  years  ago,^ 
before  railroads  were  established,  and  travelling  carriages- 
and-four  superseded;  before  postage-stamps  had  extin- 
guished the  privilege  of  franking,  and  before  the  Reform 
Bill  had  limited  the  duration  of  the  polling  at  borough 
elections  to  a  single  day.  In  re-writing  it  I  might  easily 
have  introduced  these  and  other  modern  innovations ;  but 
as  I  believe  the  manners  of  England  to  be  as  much  changed 
as  her  customs,  there  would  have  been  discrepancies 
between  my  scenes  and  characters :  the  background  would 
not  have  harmonized  with  the  figures. 

When  I  wrote  it,  I  thought  it  a  tolerably  faithful  repre- 
sentation of  modern  society ;  but  some  young  friends  who 
are  still  living  in  the  world,  from  which  I  have  long  retired, 
and  who  have  read  it  with  the  indulgence  of  happy  youth, 
condescendingly  assure  me  that  it  is  amusing,  inasmuch  as 
it  is  a  curious  picture  of  old-fashioned  society.  Therefore, 
in  giving  it  to  the  world,  I  trust  that  to  my  own  con- 
temporaries it  may  have  the  charm  of  reminding  them  of 
their  youth,  and  that  to  the  young  it  may  have  the  recom- 
mendation of  being  a  strange  Chronicle  of  the  Olden 
Time. 

E.  E. 

^   The  book  was  first  published,  it  must  be  remembered,  in  i860. 


xvn 


THE  SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 


CHAPTER   I 

"  Well,  I  have  paid  that  visit  to  the  Eskdales,  Mr. 
Douglas,"  said  Mrs.  Douglas  in  a  tone  of  triumphant 
sourness. 

"  You  don't  say  so,  my  dear  !     I  hope  you  left  my  card  ?  " 

"  Not  I,  Mr.  Douglas.  How  could  I?  They  let  me  in, 
which  was  too  unkind.  I  saw  the  whole  family,  father 
and  mother,  brother  and  sisters — the  future  bride  and 
bridegroom.  Such  a  tribe !  and  servants  without  end. 
How  I  detest  walking  up  that  great  flight  of  steps  at  Eskdale 
Castle,  with  that  regiment  of  footmen  drawn  up  on  each 
side  of  it;   one  looking  more  impertinent  than  the  other!  " 

"  There  must  be  a  frightful  accumulation  of  impertinence 
before  you  reach  the  landing-place,  my  dear ;  for  it  is  a  long 
staircase." 

"  Don't  talk  nonsense,  Mr.  Douglas,"  said  his  wife, 
sharply.  "  I  shan't  go  again  in  a  hurry.  That  whole 
house  is  hateful  to  me :  Lady  Eskdale  with  her  dawdling, 
languid  manner,  and  her  large  shawl,  and  conceited  cap; 
and  that  Lord  Beaufort,  with  his  black  eyebrows  and 
shining  teeth.  Lady  Eskdale  looked  as  old  as  the  hills, 
with  all  that  lace  hanging  about  her  face.  She  has  grown 
excessively  old,  Mr.  Douglas.  I  never  saw  anybody  so 
altered." 

"  Did  you  think  so,  Anne?  I  thought  her  looking  very 
handsome  yesterday,  when  I  met  her  in  her  pony  carriage." 

19 


20  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

''  Ah;  that  pory  carriage;  that  is  so  like  her  nonsense. 
Pony  carriages  are  the  fashion,  and  she  has  taken  to  drive. 
I  should  not  be  the  least  surprised  any  day  to  hear  that  she 
had  broken  her  neck.  Why  cannot  she  go  out  in  her 
britzska,  and  be  driven  by  her  coachman?  and  as  for 
looking  handsome,  it  is  not  very  likely  that  she  should  at 
her  age.     Lady  Eskdale  is  as  old  as  I  am,  Mr.  Douglas." 

"  You  don't  say  so,"  was  again  on  the  point  of  escaping 
Mr.  Douglas's  lips,  and  after  a  pause  he  bethought  himself 
of  the  lovers  as  a  safer  topic  than  Lady  Eskdale's  beauty ; 
he  had  tried  that  too  often  in  his  life.  *'  Did  you  see  Helen, 
my  dear?  " 

"  Oh!  to  be  sure.  She  was  sent  for.  '  Dear  Love,'  as 
Lady  Eskdale  drawled  out,  '  she  is  so  happy;  and  you 
must  see  Teviot,  he  is  such  a  darling ;  if  he  were  my  own 
son,  I  could  not  love  him  more.'  So  in  they  came,  the 
dear  love  and  the  darling.  You  know  how  I  hate  those 
London  sort  of  men,  with  their  mustachios  and  chains  and 
offensive  waistcoats,  and  Lord  Teviot  is  one  of  the  worst 
specimens  I  ever  saw  of  the  kind " 

"  And  Helen?  "  again  said  Mr.  Douglas. 

"Oh,  Helen!"  said  Mrs.  Douglas,  and  then  paused. 
She  was  in  imminent  peril  of  being  forced  to  praise,  but 
escaped  with  great  adroitness.  "  Well,  if  Helen  were  not 
one  of  that  family,  I  should  not  dislike  her.  She  is  civil 
enough,  and  promised  to  show  the  girls  her  trousseau ;  but 
she  is  altered  too.  I  think  her  looking  dreadfully  old,  Mr. 
Douglas." 

"  Old  at  eighteen,  Anne!  what  wrinkled  wretches  we 
must  be !    Has  Helen  grown  gray  ?  " 

"No;  but  you  know  what  I  mean :  she  looks  so  set-up,  so 
fashioned.     In  short,  it  does  not  signify,  but  she  is  altered." 

Mr.  Douglas  had  his  suspicions  that  Helen  must  have 
been  looking  beautiful,  since  even  his  wife  could  not  detect, 
or  at  least  specify,  the  faults  that  were  to  be  found  in  her 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED    COUPLE  21 

appearance.  He  had  seldom  seen  her  so  much  at  fault  for 
a  criticism.  Mrs.  Douglas  had  never  had  the  slightest 
pretensions  to  good  looks ;  in  fact,  though  it  is  wrong  to  say 
anything  so  ill-natured,  she  was  excessively  plain,  always 
had  been  so,  and  had  a  soreness  on  the  subject  of  beauty, 
that  looked  perhaps  as  like  envy  as  any  other  quality. 

As  she  had  no  hope  of  raising  herself  to  the  rank  of  a 
beauty,  her  only  chance  was  bringing  others  down  to  her 
own  level.  "How  old  she  is  looking!" — "How  she  is 
altered!  "  were  the  expressions  that  invariably  concluded 
Mrs.  Douglas's  comm.ents  on  her  acquaintances;  and  the 
prolonged  absence  of  a  friend  was  almost  a  pleasure  to  her, 
as  it  gave  her  the  opportunity  of  saying  after  a  first  meeting, 
"  How  changed  Mrs.  So-and  so  is !  I  should  hardly  have 
known  her ;  but  then,  to  be  sure,  I  have  not  seen  her  for  a 
year — or  two  years,"  etc. 

People  may  go  on  talking  for  ever  of  the  jealousies  of 
pretty  women;  but  for  real  genuine,  hard-working  envy 
there  is  nothing  like  an  ugly  woman  with  a  taste  for 
admiration.  Her  mortified  vanity  curdles  into  malevolence ; 
and  she  calumniates  where  she  cannot  rival. 

Mrs.  Douglas  had  been  an  heiress,  which  perhaps 
accounted  for  Mr.  Douglas  having  married  her;  but 
though  no  one  could  suppose  that  he  married  for  love,  he 
had  been  to  her  what  is  called  a  good  husband.  He  let 
her  have  a  reasonable  share  of  her  own  way,  and  spend  a 
reasonable  portion  of  her  own  money ;  he  abstained  from 
all  vivid  admiration  of  beauty  within  her  hearing ;  he  had 
a  great  reliance  on  her  judgment,  and  a  high  opinion  of 
her  talents;  and  though  he  was  too  good-hearted  to  hear 
without  pain  her  sarcasms  on  almost  all  her  acquaintance, 
he  seldom  irritated  her  by  contradiction,  but  kept  his  own 
opinion  with  a  quiet  regret  that  his  wife  was  so  hard  to 
please. 

The  Eskdales  and  Douglases  had  been  near  neighbours 


22  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

for  many  years,  and  had  always  been  on  sociable  and 
sometimes  intimate  terms.  Mrs.  Douglas  could  almost 
have  become  attached  to  her  neighbour,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  prolonged  youthfulness  of  Lady  Eskdale's  appear- 
ance, and  the  uninterrupted  and  increasing  prosperity 
of  her  family.  The  provocation  grew  too  great  for  endur- 
ance. The  ladies  had  become  mothers  at  the  same  time, 
and  the  comparison  of  their  babies,  monthly  nurses,  and 
embroidered  caps  had  been  the  commencement  of  their 
intimacy ;  then  came  the  engagement  of  nursery  governesses, 
and  discussions  on  the  comparative  merits  of  Swiss  bonnes, 
highly  accomplished  French  governesses,  poor  clergyman's 
daughters,  or  respectable  young,  ignorant  women.  Then 
the  respective  right  shoulders  of  Sophia  Beaufort  and  Sarah 
Douglas  took  a  fit  of  growing,  without  due  regard  to  the 
stationary  dispositions  of  the  left. 

There  are  two  years  in  every  woman's  Hfe  in  which  the 
undue  size  of  her  right  shoulder  is  the  bane  of  her  own 
life,  and  of  everybody  about  her.  Mrs.  Douglas  called 
constantly  at  Eskdale  Castle  to  satisfy  herself  that  Sophia 
was  growing  absolutely  deformed;  and  Lady  Eskdale 
owned  she  should  fret  dreadfully  about  her  poor  darling 
if  she  did  not  think  Mrs.  Douglas  so  much  more  to  be  pitied 
on  her  dear  Sarah's  account. 

The  girls  grew  up  perfectly  straight,  of  course. 

This  period  of  reclining  boards  and  dumb-bells  was  the 
most  flourishing  age  of  the  Eskdale  and  Douglas  friendship. 
After  that  it  gradually  declined.  There  was  a  sHght 
revival  when  the  two  ladies  entered  into  a  confederacy 
against  an  exorbitant  drawing-master;  but  he  was  shortly 
reduced  to  terms;  and  when  he  had  consented  to  walk 
fifteen  miles,  and  give  a  lesson  of  two  hours  for  fifteen 
shillings,  instead  of  a  guinea,  all  farther  community  of 
interests  on  the  subject  of  accomplishments  ceased.  The 
Eskdales  soon  after  received  an  accession  of  fortune,  and 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  23 

passed  a  great  part  of  each  year  in  another  county,  and  also 
in  London.  The  Ladies  Beaufort  grew  up,  came  out,  were 
admired,  and  became  what  Mrs.  Douglas  called  "  disgust- 
ingly fine."  ^^ 

The  Douglas  family  remained  in   the  country,   mixed  / 

more  with  their  second  grade  of  neighbours,  in  default  of        / 
their  great  friends;    and  the  Misses  Douglas  were,  Lady        / 
Eskdale  said, "  the  dearest,  most  amiable  girls  in  the  world  "  ;       / 
she   only   wished    they   "  dressed    better,    and   that   Lord 
Eskdale  did  not  think  them  vulgar ;   but  unfortunately  their 
voices  annoyed  him,  so  that  she  could  not  ask  them  to 
dinner  so  often  as  she  could  like  for  dear  Mrs.  Douglas's 
sake." 

Still  a  certain  degree  of  intercourse  was  kept  up.  An 
occasional  letter  passed,  and  at  last  a  dreadful  blow  fell 
on  the  unsuspecting  Mrs.  Douglas — an  announcement  from 
Lady  Eskdale  of  the  marriage  of  her  eldest  daughter.  It 
began  in  the  terms  usually  employed  on  such  occasions, — 
"  I  cannot  bear  that  my  dear  Mrs.  Douglas  should  hear 
from  anyone  but  myself,  that  my  darling  Sophia's  fate  is 
decided;  and  that  in  giving  my  precious  child  to  Sir 
William  Waldegrave,  I  feel  no  doubts,"  etc.,  etc.  The 
remainder  is  easily  imagined :  high  principles,  good  looks, 
long  attachment — six  weeks — worldly  prosperity,  mother's 
fears,  these  were  the  catchwords  of  the  sentences.  Mrs. 
Douglas  wrote  her  congratulations,  and  kept  her  astonish- 
ment and  comments  for  home  consumption.  Twelve 
months  passed,  and  another  letter  arrived,  but  Mrs. 
Douglas  was  prepared  for  the  worst  this  time,  at  least,  she 
said  she  was;  and  that  it  would  not  surprise  her  at  all  if 
Amelia  were  going  to  be  married.  Again  Lady  Eskdale 
could  not  bear  that  Mrs.  Douglas  should  hear  from  any- 
body but  herself,  that  dearest  Amelia  was  to  marry  Mr. 
Trevor;  another  delightful  young  man  with  still  higher 
principles,  more  good  looks,  a  still  longer  attachment — 


24  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

two  months,  at  least — and  the  mother's  fears,  and  the 
trousseau,  and  all  the  rest  of  it,  followed  in  due  order.  The 
letter  wound  up  with  a  gay  assertion  that  little  Eskdale 
Waldegrave  was  such  a  splendid  child,  that  she  forgave 
him  for  making  her  a  grandmother  at  eight-and-thirty. 

Mrs.  Douglas  read  the  communication  in  a  tone  expres- 
sive of  extreme  ill  usage.  Neither  from  herself  nor  from 
anyone  else  could  Lady  Eskdale  hear  that  either  of  the 
Misses  Douglas  were  about  to  be  married.  They  had  not 
even  a  disappointment  to  boast  of,  not  a  report  about  them 
to  contradict,  and  Mrs.  Douglas's  chance  of  being  a  grand- 
mother at  all  seemed  hardly  worth  having.  She  began 
to  rail  against  early  marriages — hoped  Mr.  Trevor  would 
help  Amelia  to  play  with  her  doll,  and  guessed  that  Sir 
William  Waldegrave  had  repented  long  ago  that  he  had 
not  taken  time  to  find  out  Sophia's  temper  before  he  married 
her. 

There  was  only  Helen  left — Helen,  so  beautiful,  so 
gentle,  so  light-hearted — the  pride  of  her  parents,  the 
petted  friend  of  her  sisters,  the  idol  of  her  brother,  and 
loving  as  warmly  as  she  was  beloved.  Yes,  I  knew  Helen 
from  her  childhood,  and  had  thought  that  such  a  gentle, 
gay  creature  could  never  be  touched  by  the  cares  and  griefs 
that  fall  on  the  common  herd.  "It  was  very  much  to 
the  credit  of  my  benevolence,  though  not  of  my  judgment," 
as  Sneer  says.  Why  was  she  to  escape  ?  I  do  not  wish  to  be 
cynical ;  but  if  a  stone  is  thrown  into  our  garden,  is  it  not 
sure  to  knock  off  the  head  of  our  most  valuable  tulip? 
If  a  cup  of  coffee  is  to  be  spilled,  does  it  not  make  a  point 
of  falling  on  our  richest  brocade  gown  ?  If  we  do  lose  our 
reticule,  does  not  the  misfortune  occur  on  the  only  day  on 
which  we  had  left  our  purse  in  it?  All  these  are  well- 
known  facts,  and,  by  parity  of  reason,  was  it  to  be  expected 
that  anyone,  so  formed  as  Helen  was  to  enjoy  as  well  as  to 
impart  happiness,  should  escape  the  trials  that  ought  to 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  25 

have  fallen  on  the  peevish  and  the  disappointed — on  me, 
for  instance,  or  such  as  me  ? 

Helen  came  out  the  year  after  her  sister  Amelia's  marriage. 
"  Lady  Eskdale  is  so  lucky — in  fact,  so  clever — in  marrying 
off  her  daughters,  that  it  would  not  the  least  surprise  me 
if  she  actually  caught  Lord  Teviot  for  Lady  Helen,"  was 
the  spiteful  prophecy  of  many  who  were  trembling  at  the 
idea  of  its  fulfilment.  Their  hopes  and  their  fears  were 
both  confirmed.  Lord  Teviot,  the  great  parti  of  the  year, 
with  five  country  houses — being  four  more  than  he  could 
live  in;  with  120,000/.  a  year — being  30,000/.  less  than  he 
could  spend;  with  diamonds  that  had  been  collected  by 
the  ten  last  generations  of  Teviots,  and  a  yacht  that  had 
been  built  by  himself,  with  the  rank  of  a  marquess,  and 
the  good  looks  of  the  poorest  of  younger  brothers — what 
could  he  want  but  a  wife  ?  Many  people  (himself  among 
the  rest)  thought  he  was  better  without  one;  but  he 
changed  his  mind  the  first  time  he  saw  Helen,  and  then 
it  signified  little  whether  other  people  changed  theirs. 
He  danced  with  her,  evening  after  evening.  He  gave  balls 
at  Teviot  House,  breakfasts  at  Rose  Bank,  whitebait 
dinners  on  board  the  Sylph^  and  finally  paid  a  morning  visit 
at  Lord  Eskdale's  at  an  unprecedentedly  early  hour.  Mrs. 
Fitzroy  Jones,  who  lived  next  door,  and  passed  her  life 
in  an  active  supervision  of  all  Eskdale  proceedings,  de- 
clared that  his  cabriolet  waited  two  hours  in  the  square,  so 
she  was  sure  he  had  proposed.  Lady  Bruce  Gordon,  who 
lived  at  the  corner,  asserted  that  she  saw  Lady  Helen  go  out 
in  the  open  carriage  with  her  mother  later  in  the  afternoon, 
and  that  she  looked  as  if  she  had  cried  her  eyes  quite  out 
of  her  head  (this  was  figurative) ;  so  she  had  no  doubt 
that  Lord  Teviot  had  jilted  her.  But  Mr.  Elliot  was 
looked  upon  as  the  highest  authority,  as  he  happened 
to  be  passing  Lord  Eskdale's  door  at  half-past  seven,  and 
saw  Lord  Teviot  go  in,  though  he  had  ascertained  that 


26  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

there  was  no  other  company  expected.  What  did  that 
mean? 

The  next  day  the  marriage  was  declared.  For  the 
three  following  weeks  Lord  Eskdale's  porter  had  a  hard 
place  of  it.  He  said  himself  that  it  required  two  pair  of 
hands  to  take  in  the  notes  and  letters  of  congratulation,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  interesting-looking  parcels,  wrapped  in 
silver  paper,  that  were  sent  by  attached  friends,  and  the 
boxes  and  baskets  which  arrived  from  distinguished  milliners 
and  jewellers. 

At  the  end  of  the  fourth  week,  Mrs.  Fitzroy  Jones  and 
all  the  little  Joneses,  Lady  B.  Gordon  and  all  the  little 
Gordons,  Mrs.  Elliot  and  all  the  little  Elliots,  were  drawn 
up  at  their  respective  windows,  watching  the  packing  of 
the  huge  waggons  which  were  stationed  at  the  Eskdale 
door,  and  reasoning  themselves  into  a  painful  conviction 
of  the  melancholy  fact  that  they  were  to  be  defrauded  of  a 
view  of  the  wedding.  Perhaps  not,  though.  It  may  take 
place  to-morrow.  But,  No!  The  next  day  brought  the 
travelling  carriages  to  the  door.  Mrs.  Jones  saw  the  family 
depart,  then  "  turned  with  sickening  soul  within  her 
gate,"  and  said,  "  I  must  say  I  think  it  very  ill-natured  not 
to  have  the  wedding  in  town."  Mrs.  Douglas  thought  so 
too — or  rather  she  thought  it  very  ill-natured  to  have  the 
wedding  in  her  neighbourhood,  not  only  forcing  on  her  the 
sight  of  so  much  prosperity,  but,  by  an  unfortunate  train 
of  events,  actually  obliging  her  to  form  part  of  the  show. 
Eliza  Douglas  was  asked  to  be  one  of  Lady  Helen's  brides- 
maids. 


CHAPTER   II 

However,  we  have  not  come  to  the  wedding-day  yet. 
There  was  the  usual  difficulty  about  settlements  which 
attends  all  marriages,  whether  there  be  any  property  to 
settle  or  not,  and  the  delay  gave  the  neighbourhood  the  full 
enjoyment  of  watching  the  Teviots  in  the  interesting 
character  of  lovers ;  and  nothing  excites  so  much  curiosity, 
or  affords  such  a  fine  mark  for  criticism,  as  the  conduct  of 
any  two  individuals  who  are  placed  in  that  critical  position. 
Mrs.  Douglas,  as  we  know,  had  given  herself  the  advantage 
of  a  regular  morning  visit  and  a  formal  introduction  to  Lord 
Teviot,  thereby  acquiring  a  lawful  right  to  make  all  her 
remarks  by  authority;  and  this  visit  was  followed  by  an 
invitation  from  the  Eskdales  to  dinner — the  invitation 
including  the  two  Misses  Douglas  as  well  as  their  father 
and  mother.  So  the  Douglases  took  very  high  ground  on 
the  great  Teviot  question. 

The  other  neighbours  had  various  degrees  of  good  fortune. 
Mrs.  Thompson,  the  curate's  wife,  had  a  very  fair  share  of 
luck,  considering,  as  she  said,  that  she  was  sure  to  be  looking 
the  other  way  when  anything  worth  seeing  was  going  on. 
But  she  had  just  called  in  at  South  Lodge  with  a  tract,  when 
she  saw  several  ladies  and  gentlemen  riding  up  the  avenue, 
and  she  understood  the  happy  pair  were  of  the  party; 
so  that  though  she  could  not  distinguish  who  was  who,  yet 
she  had  a  right  to  say  she  had  seen  "  the  marquess."  She 
really  thought  those  large  parties  must  prevent  young  people 
from  making  acquaintance :  they  ought  to  be  left  more  to 
themselves.     Mrs.  Birkett,  the  apothecary's  wife,  had  had 

27 


28  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

greater  good  fortune:  she  had  crossed  in  her  walk  an 
open  part  of  the  pleasure-ground,  and  she  had  seen  Lady 
Helen  sketching,  and  a  tall,  dark-looking  young  gentleman 
standing  by  her.  "  A  most  noble-looking  young  man  is 
the  marquess — he  reminds  me  of  what  Mr.  Birkett's  cousin 
Sir  Simon  was  when  he  was  young.  I  own  I  was  a  little 
surprised — I  won't  say  shocked — to  see  his  lordship  and  her 
ladyship  without  a  chaperon ;  but  in  high  life  I  fancy  there 
is  a  great  deal  more  ease  than  we  should  think  right.  But 
I  can't  say  I  approve  of  young  engaged  people  being  left 
so  much  to  themselves.  However,  I  am  glad  I  have 
seen  them;  and  I  was  much  nearer  to  them  than  Mrs. 
Thompson  was." 

However  fortunate  these  two  ladies  had  been,  Sunday 
was  the  day  that  was  looked  to  for  the  general  gratification 
of  public  curiosity,  and  the  church  had  not  been  so  well 
attended  for  months  as  it  was  on  that  particular  day.  It 
was  obvious  to  the  whole  neighbourhood  that  the  Eskdales 
wished  to  avoid  observation  by  coming  early  to  church, 
for  they  arrived  before  the  end  of  the  first  lesson — a  most 
unusual  degree  of  punctuality;  but  this  sign  of  timidity 
did  not  prevent  the  whole  congregation  from  fixing  their 
eyes  intently  on  the  tall  young  man  who  followed  Lord 
Eskdale  into  church,  and  who  took  a  seat  opposite  to  Lady 
Helen  in  the  pew.  Never  was  the  congregation  so  alert 
in  standing  up  at  the  proper  opportunities.  Old  Mr. 
Mario w,  a  martyr  to  rheumatic  gout,  and  Mrs.  Greenland, 
who  had,  for  two  years,  made  her  stiff  knee  an  excuse  for 
sitting  down  during  the  whole  of  the  service,  were  both 
on  their  legs  before  the  psalm  was  given  out.  The  clerk, 
who  had  a  passion  for  his  own  singing,  saw  his  advantages, 
and  gave  out  five  verses  of  a  hymn,  with  repetition  of  the 
two  last  lines  of  each  verse.  Seven  verses  and  a  half! 
but  nobody  thought  it  a  note  too  long.  Moreover,  Lady 
Helen  dropped  her  prayer-book,  and  the  tall  young  man 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  29 

picked  it  up  for  her.  Such  an  incident !  Mrs.  Thompson, 
as  usual,  missed  it,  because  she  was  unluckily  tying  her 
little  girl's  bonnet-strings.  There  was  a  rush  into  the 
churchyard  the  moment  the  sermon  was  over,  to  which 
nobody  had  attended,  except  those  who  were  watching 
for  "  Lastly."  And  when  Lady  Helen  came  out,  leaning 
on  her  father's  arm,  and  Lady  Eskdale  followed,  attended 
by  the  tall  young  man,  and  when  they  all  bowed  and 
curtsied,  and  got  into  the  open  carriage,  the  father  and 
mother  sitting  forwards  and  the  young  people  opposite 
to  them,  and  when  Lord  Eskdale  took  off  his  black  hat 
and  bowed  on  one  side,  and  the  young  man  took  off  his 
gray  hat  and  bowed  on  the  other,  nothing  could  exceed 
the  gratification  of  the  assembly.  Lord  Teviot  was  exactly 
what  they  expected,  so  very  distinguished  and  so  good- 
looking.  Some  thought  him  too  attentive  to  his  prayers  for 
a  man  in  love,  and  some  thought  him  too  attentive  to  Lady 
Helen  for  a  man  in  church ;  but  eventually  the  two  factions 
joined,  and  thought  him  simply  very  attentive.  They  all 
saw  that  Lady  Helen  was  very  fond  of  him,  and  nobody 
could  be  surprised  at  that.  It  was  a  most  satisfactory 
Sunday ;  and  as  most  of  them  were  addicted  to  the  im- 
moral practice  of  Sunday  letter-writing,  the  observations 
of  the  morning  were  reduced  to  writing  in  the  evening, 
and  sent  off  to  various  parts  of  England  on  Monday 
morning.  But  hardly  had  the  post  gone  out,  when  an 
alarming  report  arose  that  the  real,  genuine  Lord  Teviot 
had  gone  up  to  town  on  Saturday,  and  that  the  "  observed 
of  all  observers  "  was  an  architect  come  down  to  complete 
the  statue  gallery.  It  was  too  true:  the  reaction  was 
frightful,  and,  as  usual  in  all  cases  of  reaction,  the  odium 
fell  on  the  wrong  man.  The  architect,  who  was  in  fact  an 
awkward,  ungainly  concern,  remained  in  possession  of 
distinguished  looks,  and  with  the  glory  of  being  very 
attentive  to  Lady  Helen ;  and  it  was  generally  asserted  that 


30  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

Lord  Teviot  kept  out  of  the  way — as  he  was  quite  aware  of 
being  ill-looking ;  that  he  was  not  attached  in  the  smallest 
degree  to  Lady  Helen,  or  he  would  not  have  gone  to 
London ;  and  that  he  was  very  unprincipled,  not  to  say  an 
atheist,  or  he  would  have  gone  to  church. 


CHAPTER    III 

The  day  of  the  wedding  drew  near.  The  whole  Esk- 
dale  family,  with  the  exception  of  the  Waldegraves,  were 
assembled  for  the  ceremony.  Lady  Amelia  Trevor  and 
Helen  had  always  been  friends  as  well  as  sisters.  There 
was  a  difference  of  little  more  than  a  year  in  their  ages,  and 
on  every  point  of  amusement  or  interest — in  their  childish 
griefs,  or  their  youthful  pleasures — their  trust  and  con- 
fidence in  each  other  had  been  unbounded.  Amelia's 
marriage  had  made  no  difference  in  their  relations  to 
each  other,  for  Helen  liked  Mr.  Trevor,  and  he  admired 
her  with  all  Amelia's  enthusiasm,  and  loved  her  with  all 
Amelia's  fondness. 

Amelia  was  in  ecstasies  on  her  arrival  at  Eskdale.  She 
thought  Lord  Teviot  charming.  Helen  had  never  looked 
so  beautiful.  Everybody  ought  to  marry — a  married  Hfe 
was  so  happy ;  and  then  it  was  so  lucky  that  she  and  Mr. 
Trevor  had  brought  a  set  of  emeralds  for  Helen,  for  the 
Waldegraves  had  sent  a  set  of  pearls,  and  she  had  once 
thought  of  pearls  herself.  Lord  Teviot  was  quite  as 
desperately  in  love  as  she  had  expected— just  what  he 
ought  to  be ;  in  short,  she  worked  herself  up  into  such  a 
state  of  prosperous  cheerfulness,  that  when  she  went  into 
Helen's  room,  three  days  before  the  appointed  wedding,  she 
was  as  childishly  gay  as  when  she  had  run  into  it  five  years 
before,  with  tidings  of  a  whole  holiday,  or  a  child's  ball, 
and  now,  to  her  utter  discomfiture,  she  found  Helen  in 
tears. 

"Helen,  my  darhng,  what  is  the  matter?    what  is  it, 

31 


32  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

love?  Are  you  tired  with  your  long  ride?  I  said  you 
would  be." 

"  No,  Amy,  I  am  not  tired;  we  did  not  ride  far,"  said 
Helen,  trying  to  stifle  her  tears.  "  Have  you  and  Alfred 
been  out?  " 

"  Yes — no.  Oh  !  I  do  not  know;  never  mind  where  we 
went,  but  tell  me  what  is  the  matter.  Do,  dear  Nell. 
Don't  you  remember  how  in  former  days  I  always  used  to 
tease  you  out  of  all  your  secrets  ?  and  you  must  not  cry 
without  telling  me  why." 

"  I  do  not  know  that  I  can  tell  you,  dear;  perhaps  I  do 
not  know  myself.  I  dare  say  I  am  tired,  I  often  feel  so 
now;  and  then  I  have  so  much,  to  think  of";  and  she 
leant  her  head  on  her  hand  with  a  look  of  painful  weariness. 

"  Yes,  so  you  have,  but  they  are  happy  thoughts  too, 
Helen,  in  most  respects.  Oh,  dear  me !  how  well  I 
remember  the  week  before  my  marriage,  going  to  my  own 
room  and  sitting  down  comfortably  in  my  arm-chair,  just 
as  you  are  now,  and  thinking  I  would  be  thoroughly 
unhappy  about  leaving  dear  papa  and  mamma,  and  you 
and  Beaufort,  and  I  meant  to  cry  about  it,  and  to  make  a 
complete  victim  of  myself.  And  at  the  end  of  half  an  hour 
I  found  I  had  been  thinking  of  nothing  but  dear  Alfred, 
and  wondering  whether  there  ever  had  been  in  the  world 
any  creature  so  happy  as  I  was " 

"  And  yet  you  were  leaving  home !  " 

"  Yes,  but  not  for  ever,"  said  Amelia,  laughing;  "  only 
for  three  weeks.  I  knew  I  should  come  back,  and  bring 
dear  Alfred  with  me;  and  so  will  you,  and  bring  dear 
Teviot.  Now,  Helen,  do  not  look  so  deplorable ;  nobody 
can  possibly  pity  you,  I  assure  you." 

"  No,  I  suppose  not,"  said  Helen,  in  a  low  tone. 

"  Alfred  and  I  have  settled  to  remain  here  till  you  come 
back  from  your  great  castle  in  the  north,"  said  Amelia, 
determined  to  talk  away  Helen's  low  spirits.     "  So  you 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 


33 


need  not  fret  about  mamma's  loneliness;  and  besides,  I 
never  saw  her  so  pleased  with  anything  as  she  is  with  your 
marriage.  I  had  a  horrible  fit  of  jealousy  yesterday, 
thinking  poor  Alfred  was  neglected — I  may  say,  quite 
cut  out ;  but  mamma  has  taken  a  little  more  notice  of  him 
to-day.  Oh,  dear !  what  fun  it  will  be  when  we  visit  you 
in  your  own  house  !  I  hear  it  is  an  actual  palace.  Alfred 
went  there  once  for  some  shooting  when  he  was  a  boy; 
and  then  I  have  never  told  you  that  I  like  Lord  Teviot 
so  much." 

Helen  raised  her  head,  but  her  Hps  quivered,  and  she 
leaned  back  again  without  speaking. 

"  I  was  so  very  anxious  to  see  him,  and  to  make  acquaint- 
ance with  him ;  because,  you  know,  if  I  had  not  liked  him, 
life  would  not  have  been  worth  having.  You  would  have 
found  it  out,  and  would  have  thrown  me  off  at  once  as  your 
friend." 

*' Never,  never!"  said  Helen;  "I  am  sure  I  never 
should." 

"  Oh  yes,  you  would,  dear;  and  you  ought.  You  will 
soon  see  how  naturally  one  acquires  a  distaste  for  any  ill- 
judging  individual  who  presumes  not  to  like  one's  husband. 
You  would  give  us  all  up  in  a  moment  for  Lord  Teviot's 
sake,  if  we " 

"  Oh,  no,  no!  "  exclaimed  Helen,  clasping  her  hands; 
"  I  shall  cling  to  you  all  more  than  ever,  and  none  of  you 
must  give  me  up.  Amelia,  promise  to  be  kind  to  me,  to 
love  me  more  than  ever  when  I  am  married;  indeed,  in- 
deed, I  shall  want  your  love  " ;  and  she  threw  her  arms 
round  Amelia's  neck,  and  sobbed  violently. 

"  Why  now,  darling,  how  silly  this  is !  ,how  can  I  love 
you  more  than  I  do?  You  are  nervous  and  tired,  and  just 
see  what  a  state  you  have  put  us  into :  only  look  at  me,  with 
my  eyes  as  red  as  ferrets',  and  you  know  how  I  hate  to 
cry.  Now  we  must  not  have  any  more  of  this  nonsense. 
G 


34  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

There,  you  lie  down  on  this  sofa,  and  I  will  sit  at  this 
window,  and  pretend  to  read,  while  I  cool  my  eyes.  I 
won't  speak  another  word;  and  if  you  fall  asleep,  so  much 
the  better,  you  will  wake  up  quite  in  spirits  again." 

Helen  threw  her  handkerchief  over  her  eyes,  and,  leaning 
back  on  the  sofa,  seemed  inchned  to  follow  her  sister's 
advice.  Her  sobs  ceased;  and  Ameha  sat  quietly  at  the 
window,  in  the  fond  hope  that  her  directions  were  all  obeyed 
and  that  Helen  was  asleep. 

In  half  an  hour  she  saw  Lord  Teviot  walking  on  the 
terrace  below;  he  stopped  under  the  window,  and  looked 
up  at  her. 

"  Is  Helen  there?  "  he  said. 

Ameha  leaned  forward,  and,  putting  her  finger  to  her 
lips,  made  signs  to  him  to  be  silent. 

* '  What  is  the  matter  ?  Is  Helen  not  well.  Lady  Ameha  ?  ' ' 
he  said,  in  a  tone  of  vexation. 

*'  Oh!  bless  the  man,"  murmured  Amelia,  "  why  can't 
he  hold  his  tongue?  he  will  wake  her.  She's  asleep — 
asleep,  I  tell  you,"  putting  her  head  quite  out  of  the  windov/, 
and  speaking  in  a  loud  whisper. 

"  Who  is  it  that  you  are  talking  to?  "  said  Helen. 

*'  There  now.  Lord  Teviot,  you  have  woke  her.  I  told 
you  how  it  would  be,  only  nobody  ever  can  be  quiet.  She 
was  tired  with  that  hot  ride  you  took  her." 

"  Well,  ask  her.  Lady  Amelia,  if  she  will  not  come  and 
sit  in  the  shade  a  httle  while,  she  will  find  it  much  pleasanter 
than  it  was  when  we  were  riding." 

"No;  she  says  she  is  sorry,  but  she  must  keep  quiet  till 
dinner-time." 

"  Did  you  tell  her  it  would  be  pleasanter?  " 

*'  Yes;   but  she  don't  seem  to  believe  it." 

"  Ask  her  if  I  may  come  and  visit  her  in  her  sitting- 


room. 


No;  she  says  you  are  very  good,  but  she  does  not  wish 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  35 

you  to  take  that  trouble.  There,  Helen,  he  is  gone;  but 
why  would  not  you  let  him  come  here?  I  wish  you  had 
seen  him,  and  then  you  could  not  have  said  no.  I  cannot 
imagine  how  you  could  have  been  so  unkind  to  such  a 
fieros  de  roman  looking  man.  Whether  he  is  more  like  Lord 
Byron,  or  the  superbe  Orosmane,  or  Sir  PhiHp  Sydney,  or 
Alcibiades,  I  cannot  decide,  never  having  seen  any  of 
them;  but  he  certainly  is  the  most  distinguished-looking 
individual  I  ever  saw.  Oh!  but,  Helen,"  she  said  as  she 
passed  the  dressing-table,  "  who  gave  you  this  splendid 
brooch?" 

"  Lord  Teviot;    he  gave  it  to  me  this  morning." 

"  Well,  I  never  saw  such  lovely  rubies — no,  never.  And 
you  would  not  even  come  to  the  window  to  look  at  the  man 
who  gave  you  such  a  brooch,  and  who  is  so  extremely  well 
worth  looking  at,  as  I  tell  you  he  is.  What  an  unfeeling 
little  wretch !  Well,  good-bye,  darling,  you  are  better 
now,  so  I  will  leave  you." 

"  No,  don't  leave  me;  I  am  better  now,  as  you  say,  and 
I  should  like  to  have  a  little  talk.  What  was  it,  Amelia, 
that  you  were  saying  about  mamma — that  she  is  pleased 
with  my  marriage?  " 

"Oh!  delighted  with  it;  she  said  that  she  was  the 
happiest  mother  in  the  world,  and  that  she  was  sure  it  had 
made  dear  papa  ten  years  younger." 

"  And  yet,  if  they  had  been  told  only  six  weeks  ago  that 
I  was  to  leave  them " 

"  Ah  !   but,  my  dear,  if  it  is  your  happiness."  » 

"Yes,  if:  what  a  frightful  word  that  z/ is,  Amelia!" 
said  Helen,  turning  to  the  table  so  that  her  sister  could  not 
see  her  face.  "  Did  it  ever  occur  to  you  before  your 
marriage,  that  if  your  engagement  were  broken  off " 

"  Oh  no,  dear,  I  never  thought  of  such  an  impossibiHty. 
I  should  have  died  of  it;  besides,  Alfred  was  naturally 
too  much  charmed  with  the  precious  treasure  he  had  gained 


36  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

to  think  of  throwing  it  away — he  is  much  too  sensible  for 
that." 

"  Oh !  I  did  not  think  o£ his  changing  his  mind;  but  if 
you  had  found  out  that  you  did  not  love  him  as  much  as  he 
expected — that  he  had  some  great  fault,  a  bad  temper,  for 
instance,  would  you  have  broken  off  your  engagement? 
Would  you,  Amelia?  " 

"  No,  decidedly  not;  I  should  have  married  him,  bad 
temper  and  all,  and  have  turned  it  into  a  good  one;  I 
could  never  have  given  him  up.  Fancy  me  going  through 
life  without  Alfred.  How  can  you  put  such  shocking  ideas 
into  my  head?  Only  think  of  the  sin  of  breaking  one's 
promise,  and  of  the  poor  man's  mortification,  and  of  what 
papa  and  mamma  would  have  said';  and  of  the  explana- 
tions and  the  disgrace  of  the  whole  business.  I  should 
have  gone  mad.  I  should  have  shut  myself  up  in  a 
nunnery,  if  I  could  have  found  one.  I  never  could  have 
shown  my  face  again.  My  dear,  what  could  have  put  such- 
a  notion  into  your  head?  " 

"Oh,  nothing,"  said  Helen;  "  *  it  is  talking  for  mere 
talking  sake,'  as  our  governess  used  to  say." 

"  Helen,"  said  Amelia,  after  a  pause,  "  you  have 
frightened  me ;  but  I  see  now  how  it  is.  I  suspect  that  you 
and  Lord  Teviot  have  had  some  little  quarrel  to-day; 
indeed,  I  am  sure  of  it.  You  were  fretting  about  it  when 
I  came  in,  and  he  was  evidently  very  anxious  to  make  it  up 
when  he  came  under  the  window.  Dearest  Nell,  a  slight 
unmeaning  quarrel  may  be  an  amusing  little  incident,  but 
it  should  not  last  half  an  hour,  and  it  should  not  happen 
more  than  once.  Be  kind  to  him,  dear,  when  you  come 
down  to  dinner.  You  have  had  your  fit  of  dignity,  and  the 
pleasure  of  putting  yourself  rather  in  the  wrong ;  and  now 
make  it  up,  and  let  it  be  peace  and  happiness  for  the  rest  of 
your  life."  She  ran  out  of  the  room,  thinking  she  had  said 
enough,  only  adding  as  she  placed  the  brooch  in  Helen's 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  37 

hands,  "  There,  you  ungracious  little  thing.  Look  and 
repent." 

"  Ay,  repent  indeed,"  said  Helen,  throwing  it  from  her; 
"  and  unless  I  were  as  cold  and  as  hard  as  those  stones,  how 
can  I  but  repent?  She  will  not  understand  me;  she  will 
not  help  me ;  and  how  can  she  unless  I  had  courage  to  tell 
her  all  ?  Oh  !  but  the  disgrace  would,  as  she  says,  be  too 
great;  and  then  papa  and  mamma,  and  the  day  fixed,  and 
so  near.     Oh  !   what  shall  I  do  !  " 

The  dressing-bell  rang,  so  it  was  clear  that  the  first 
thing  to  be  done  was  to  dress  for  dinner;  and  happy 
for  us  is  it  that  these  ordinary  domestic  habits  of  life  watch 
over  its  imaginative  distresses  with  the  sagacity  and  decision 
of  sheep  dogs,  and  bark  and  worry  them  till  they  fall  into 
the  proper  path  of  the  flock. 


CHAPTER   IV 

This  was  the  grand  day  of  the  Douglas  dinner.  They 
arrived.  Mr.  Douglas  prepared  to  dine  and  to  talk,  and 
to  be  thankful  if  the  cookery  and  conversation  were  good ; 
Mrs.  Douglas,  perfectly  ready  and  able  to  detect  what  might 
be  amiss,  and  to  say  what  would  be  disagreeable ;  and  the 
girls,  charmed  with  the  new  gowns  that  had  been  manu- 
factured in  honour  of  the  occasion,  and  full  of  mysterious 
curiosity  about  Lord  Teviot,  and  of  real  affectionate  interest 
in  Lady  Helen. 

Lord  and  Lady  Eskdale  and  most  of  the  guests  were 
assembled.  Amelia,  for  a  wonder,  was  ready  in  good  time ; 
she  was  anxious  to  see  her  sister  and  Lord  Teviot  meet,  and 
had  taken  her  station  near  the  door  on  purpose.  Helen 
appeared  soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  Douglas  family,  and 
received  the  friendly  greeting  of  Mr.  Douglas,  and  the 
meaning  pressure  of  his  daughters'  hands,  with  the  kindest 
cordiality.  She  looked  flushed  and  excited  when  first  she 
entered,  but  after  a  glance  round  the  room  her  agitation 
subsided,  and  it  was  evidently  a  relief  to  her  to  see  that 
Lord  Teviot  was  not  there.  Dinner  was  announced,  and 
he  had  not  appeared. 

'*  Are  we  to  wait  for  him,  Helen?  "  said  Lord  Eskdale, 
with  a  smile. 

"  Oh  no,  papa.  Mr.  Douglas,  you  must  take  pity  on 
me.  Do  you  remember  the  first  day  I  dined  down,  how 
you  protected  me  in  to  dinner?  " 

The  whole  party  marshalled  themselves,  and  went  on  to 
the  dining-room. 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  39 

"  How  disappointing!  "  whispered  Sarah  to  EHza;  "  I 
wanted  to  see  them  together." 

Helen  always  sat  on  one  side  of  her  father,  whatever 
guests  there  might  be ;  and  Amelia  observed  with  pain  the 
earnestness  with  which  she  tried  to  induce  Mr.  Douglas  to 
take  the  chair  next  to  her  on  the  other  side ;  but  he  laughed 
and  left  her,  telling  her  he  preferred  going  of  his  own  accord 
to  being  sent  away.  Lord  Teviot  came  in  just  as  the  soup 
and  fish  were  taken  away.  He  took  his  accustomed  place, 
but  without  looking  at  Helen,  and  not  till  the  second  course 
came  did  any  conversation  pass  between  them,  and  then  it 
seemed  to  be  short  and  constrained ;  but  she  talked  to  her 
father  in  apparently  good  spirits.  Sarah  and  Eliza  looked 
at  each  other,  and  wondered  whether  that  would  be  the 
right  manner  to  adopt  under  similar  circumstances.  The 
ladies  rose  to  retire.  Helen  had  dropped  her  bracelet. 
Lord  Teviot  stooped  for  it,  but  with  an  air  of  such  unwilling- 
ness that  Helen  said,  "  Pray  do  not  give  yourself  so  much 
trouble,  I  will  send  for  it  presently." 

"  As  you  please,"  he  answered  coldly,  and  stepped 
back  to  let  her  pass. 

"  Stay,  Nell,"  said  Trevor,  "  I  will  find  it;  Amelia  has 
brought  me  into  excellent  training.  I  am  quite  in  the 
habit  of  groping  about  under  the  table  for  all  the  things 
she  drops.     I  am  much  more  pliable  than  Teviot." 

"  That  you  are,"  said  Helen ;  "  thank  you,  dear  Alfred  "  ; 
and  without  another  look  at  Lord  Teviot  she  passed  on. 

Amelia  did  not  at  all  like  the  aspect  of  affairs,  but 
consoled  herself  with  the  hope  that  it  was  a  mere  lovers' 
quarrel,  and  would  end  in  a  burst  of  sentiment ;  and  in  the 
meantime  she  was  glad  to  divert  Mrs.  Douglas's  attention 
by  showing  her  Helen's  trousseau.  It  was  indeed  "  show- 
ing her  eyes  to  grieve  her  heart  ";  but  if  her  saturnine 
dispositions  could  exhaust  themselves  on  the  senseless 
gowns  and  the  poor  dumb  trinkets,  it  would  be  better  than 


40  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

allowing  her  to  make  remarks  on  more  sensitive  victims. 
Sarah  and  EUza  were  in  good-natured  rapture  with  the 
whole  show — from  the  Brussels  lace  wedding-gown  to  the 
very  last  dozen  of  embroidered  pocket-handkerchiefs,  and 
they  were  quite  sorry  when  a  summons  to  coffee  took  them 
back  to  the  drawing-room. 

"  Thirty  morning  gowns !  "  whispered  Sarah,  as  they 
went  down  stairs.  "  The  idea  of  a  new  gown  every  day 
for  a  month.     Now  I  call  that  real  happiness." 

"  Not  such  real,  lasting  happiness,"  answered  EUza,  half 
laughing,  "  as  eighteen  bracelets,  and  then  those  heaps  of 
gloves  and  handkerchiefs.  A  quarter  of  them,  Sarah, 
would  free  our  miserable  allowances  from  embarrassments 
for  life." 

"It  must  be  very  pleasant  to  be  so  rich " 

"  And  to  be  going  to  be  married,"  said  Eliza;  and  this 
sage  conclusion  brought  them  to  the  drawing-room  door. 

Helen  would  perhaps  have  given  them  a  different  opinion. 
She  began  to  doubt  much  whether  it  were  happiness,  or 
anything  like  it,  to  be  going  to  be  married.  She  had 
accepted  Lord  Teviot  on  an  acquaintance  of  very  few 
weeks,  and  that  carried  on  solely  in  a  ball-room  or  at  a 
breakfast.  She  knew  that  her  sisters  had  married  in  the 
same  way,  and  were  very  happy.  No  one,  not  even  her 
mother,  had  seemed  to  doubt  for  a  moment  that  Lord 
Teviot's  proposal  was  to  be  accepted.  And  except  some 
slight  misgivings  as  to  whether  she  liked  him  as  much  as 
Amelia  had  liked  Mr.  Trevor,  she  herself  had  had  no 
distrust  as  to  her  future  prospects  till  she  came  into  the 
country.  Then  she  found  every  day  some  fresh  cause  to 
doubt  whether  she  were  as  happy,  engaged  to  Lord  Teviot, 
as  she  was  before  she  had  ever  seen  him.  He  was  always 
quarrelling  with  her — at  least,  so  she  thought;  but  the 
real  truth  was,  that  he  was  desperately  in  love,  and  she  was 
not ;    that  he  was  a  man  of  strong  feelings  and  exacting 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  41 

habits,  and  with  considerable  knowledge  of  the  world ; 
and  that  she  was  timid  and  gentle,  unused  to  any  violence 
of  manner  or  language,  and  unequal  to  cope  with  it.  He 
alarmed  her,  first  by  the  eagerness  with  which  he  poured 
out  his  affection,  and  then  by  the  bitterness  of  his  reproaches 
because,  as  he  averred,  it  was  not  returned. 

She  tried  to  satisfy  him;  but  when  he  had  frightened 
away  her  playfulness,  he  had  deprived  her  of  her  greatest 
charm,  and  she  herself  felt  that  her  manner  became  daily 
colder  and  more  repulsive.  His  prediction  that  she  would 
be  happier  anywhere  than  with  him  seemed  likely,  by 
repetition,  to  insure  its  own  fulfilment.  Even  their 
reconciliations — for  what  is  the  use  of  a  quarrel  but  to 
bring  on  a  reconciliation? — were  unsatisfactory.  She 
wished  that  he  loved  her  less,  or  would  say  less  about  it; 
and  he  thought  that  the  gentle  willingness  with  which  she 
met  his  excuses  was  only  a  fresh  proof  that  his  love  or  his 
anger  were  equally  matters  of  indifference  to  her.  No 
French  actor  with  a  broken  voice,  quivering  hands,  a 
stride,  and  a  shrug,  could  have  given  half  the  emphasis 
to  the  sentiment,  J'aimerais  mieux  etre  hai  qu'aimS  faiblement, 
than  Lord  Teviot  did  to  the  upbraidings  with  which  he 
diversified  the  monotony  of  love-making.  This  very  morn- 
ing he  had  persuaded  himself  that  Helen  would  have 
preferred  riding  with  her  brother.  She  found  the  sun  hot, 
and  proposed  to  return.  This  was  a  fresh  offence,  and  he 
declared  that  it  was  only  a  desire  to  avoid  him  that  made 
her  wish  to  shorten  their  ride.  Then  he  worked  himself 
up  by  a  repetition  of  his  wrongs  to  a  degree  of  violence  that 
would  have  surprised  himself  at  another  moment.  At  first 
she  laughed  at  his  accusations,  then  she  was  shocked  at  his 
bitterness,  and  at  last,  gay  and  giddy  as  she  was,  her  spirits 
gave  way;  and  when  he  helped  her  to  dismount  from  her 
horse,  he  saw  that  her  cheeks  were  pale,  and  that  big  tears 
were  rolling  over  them.     To  his  entreaties  that  she  would 


42  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

stay  only  five  minutes  more  with  him,  she  shook  her  head 
and  said  faintly,  "  No,  I  am  too  tired  now,  I  can  bear  no 
more  " ;  and  as  she  left  him  the  thought  rushed  into  her 
mind,  "  Perhaps  he  is  right.  I  do  not  love  him  as  I  ought ; 
it  is  not  yet  too  late." 

It  was  in  this  mood  that  Amelia  found  her.  One  word 
of  encouragement  would  have  given  her  spirit  to  break  off 
her  marriage ;  but  Amelia,  who  had  been  in  love  with  Mr. 
Trevor  from  the  first  hour  of  their  acquaintance  down  to  the 
present  speaking,  could  not  realize  her  sister's  feelings,  and 
gave  the  only  advice  that  she  would  herself  have  taken  in 
Helen's  position.  Helen  went  down  to  dinner  irresolute. 
Nothing  in  Lord  Teviot's  manner  tended  to  reconcile  her 
to  him ;  and  she  thought  that  in  the  course  of  the  evening 
she  would  bravely  seek  him  to  dissolve  their  engagement. 
But  perhaps  he  saw  something  in  her  ease  of  manner  that 
alarmed  him :  dinner,  that  useful  counsellor,  had  smoothed 
his  ruffled  temper;  perhaps  the  instinct  that  always  leads 
a  man  to  foresee  when  an  impending  explanation  is  not 
likely  to  end  in  his  favour  prompted  him  to  divine  that 
he  should  have  the  worse  of  this.  And  the  result  was,  that 
when  he  came  into  the  drawing-room,  and  saw  Helen  con- 
versing gaily  with  Mrs.  Douglas,  he  drew  quietly  towards  her, 
and  sat  down,  looking  very  penitent,  on  a  wretched,  hard, 
cane  chair  with  a  straight  back,  immediately  behind  her. 
Gradually  he  edged  himself  into  the  conversation,  took  an 
opportunity  of  throwing  Helen's  work  on  the  floor,  partly 
that  he  might  stoop  for  it  with  all  Trevor's  pliability,  and 
partly  that  in  the  course  of  that  process  he  might  con- 
trive to  touch  with  his  lips  Helen's  hand,  unperceived  even 
by  the  sharp-eyed  Mrs.  Douglas;  and  that  amende  being 
made,  he  took  his  accustomed  place  on  the  sofa  by  her  side, 
and  was  so  gentle  and  so  pleasant  that  her  resentment  faded 
gradually  away,  and  all  her  magnanimous  resolutions  were 
forgotten.     Her  misgivings  as  to  the  degree  of  affection 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED    COUPLE  43 

she  felt  for  him  remained ;  but  she  supposed  Amelia  was 
right :  it  would  be  shocking  to  break  her  promise.  And,  in 
short,  she  was  too  young  to  act  for  herself,  and  too  much 
devoted  to  her  parents  to  ask  them  to  do  for  her  what  she 
knew  would  give  them  pain;  and  so  the  evening  ended 
peacefully. 


CHAPTER  V 

The  Douglases  rolled  home  in  their  family  coach. 

"  Pray,  may  I  ask,  Mr.  Douglas,  if  you  thought  that  a 
pleasant  dinner?  "  said  his  wife  in  an  insidious  tone. 

"Yes,  my  dear,  I  did  indeed;  good  cookery,  pleasant 
company,  and  very  pretty  women — I  ask  nothing  more. 
Ought  not  I  to  have  Hked  it?  " 

"  Oh  dear,  yes !  I  am  glad  you  did ;  easily  pleased,  that's 
all  I  can  say.  Perhaps,  too,  you  thought  your  beauty. 
Lady  Eskdale,  looked  well  in  that  floppety  cap?  " 

"  I  have  not  the  good  fortune  to  know  what  a  floppety 
cap  is,  my  dear ;  but  I  thought  she  looked  very  handsome, 
even  by  the  side  of  those  two  pretty  daughters  of  hers." 

"  Well,  it  is  to  me  the  strangest  delusion  of  yours,  that 
about  the  beauty  of  the  Eskdales.  Perhaps,  too,  in  the 
extremity  of  your  benevolence,  you  think  Lord  Teviot  is 
very  much  in  love  with  Helen?  " 

"  Is  not  he?  I  took  it  for  granted  that  he  was,  because, 
in  the  first  place,  most  men  who  saw  her  would  be ;  and  in 
the  next,  because  I  presume  he  would  not  marry  her  if  he 
were  not." 

"  What  his  reasons  may  be  for  marrying  her  I  do  not 
know;  but  I  never  saw  a  more  unpromising-looking  busi- 
ness than  that.  He  seems  to  me  to  be  about  the  most  ill- 
tempered,  disagreeable,  odious  young  man  I  ever  saw; 
and  he  does  not  care  two  straws  for  Helen.  Girls,  I 
am  sure  you  must  have  observed  it :  he  never  spoke  to  her 
at  dinner,  and  I  am  convinced  she  is  very  unhappy." 

"  Oh,   mamma,    do   you   think   so?  "    said    Eliza.     "  T 

44 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  45 

think  Helen,  when  she  is  married,  will  be  just  like  Lady 
Amelia ;   and  I  am  sure  she  is  happy  enough." 

"  She  carries  it  off  very  well,"  said  Mrs.  Douglas;  "  but 
in  my  humble  opinion  Mr.  Trevor  is  rather  a  poor  creature, 
and  Amelia  is  sharp  enough  to  find  it  out.  After  all  the 
fuss  that  has  been  made  about  Lady  Eskdale's  luck  in  the 
marriage  of  her  daughters,  I  see  nothing  in  it.  The 
Waldegraves  are  never  here,  to  begin  with." 

"  Oh,  because  he  was  obliged  to  go  to  Paris  about  that 
money  of  his  uncle's." 

"  Ah !  so  they  say ;  I  never  believe  those  stories  of  people 
going  rambling  about  in  search  of  their  uncle's  money.  I 
suspect  he  is  very  unsteady,  and  Sophia's  temper  must  be 
a  trying  one,  I  am  sure;  and  probably  they  do  not  wish 
the  Eskdales  to  see  how  unhappy  they  are.  So  much  for 
one  daughter.  Then  Amelia  is  married  to  a  man  who  looks, 
/  think,  though  nobody  will  agree  with  me,  like  a  fool,  and 
moreover  his  father  is  alive,  and  may  live  for  ages,  or  marry 
again,  and  have  heaps  of  children ;  so  in  a  worldly  point 
of  view  that  is  a  deplorable  marriage." 

"  My  dear,  how  you  do  run  on  imagining  grievances! 
The  Trevors  are  very  well  off." 

"  How  can  you  know,  Mr.  Douglas?  Nobody  who  has 
a  father  alive  ever  is  well  off;  and  besides,  they  are  very 
extravagant ;  you  will  see  that  they  will  get  into  difficulties ; 
and  then  Helen,  we  were  told  that  hers  was  to  be  a  model 
marriage — the  greatest  piece  of  luck  that  ever  was  known. 
Now  I  am  not  easily  taken  in,  but  I  really  did  expect  to 
see  a  tolerable  chance  of  happiness  for  that  poor  girl; 
and  there  she  is  going  to  be  the  wife  of  that  horrid  savage." 
"  Oh,  mamma !   he  does  not  look  like  a  savage." 

"  No,  my  dear,  savages  would  not  be  so  affected;  but  I 
was  alluding  to  his  temper,  which  is  evidently  a  savage 
temper.  I  am  sorry  for  it,  for  Helen  is  rather  a  favourite 
of  mine,  and  I  see  she  will  lead  a  wretched  life;    and 


46  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

taking  all  these  circumstances  together,  I  cannot  wonder 
that  with  all  this  care  and  anxiety  on  her  mind  Lady 
Eskdale  looks  as  old  and  haggard  as  she  does." 

"  Well,  Anne,  you  have  settled  that  family  thoroughly," 
said  Mr.  Douglas;  "  nobody  can  accuse  you  of  too  much 
benevolence  in  your  opinions." 

"  No,  my  dear,  I  don't  set  up  for  that  sort  of  character, 
because  I  happen  to  see  things  as  they  really  are,  and  I  am 
never  taken  in  by  the  cant  of  prosperity,  and  that  sort  of 
pretension.  So  really,  without  offence,  I  must  be  allowed 
to  observe  that  I  do  not  envy  Lady  Eskdale  her  sons-in-law ; 
and  that  I  hope  we  shall  not  be  asked  to  dine  there  any 
more  this  year,  that  is  all." 

And  on  this  conclusion  the  family  rested  till  they  arrived 
at  home. 


CHAPTER   VI 

"  I  WISH  mamma  did  not  hate  dining  at  Eskdale  Castle,'' 
said  Eliza  to  her  sister  when  they  went  to  their  own  room ; 
*'  and  I  wish  they  would  ask  us  a  little  oftener;  I  think  it  is 
very  good  fun  going  there." 

"  Do  you?  "  said  Sarah,  in  an  absent  tone. 

"  Yes,  I  like  their  large  rooms,  and  the  armchairs,  and 
the  sofas,  and  the  sort  of  smell  of  wealth  that  there  is  about 
the  house.  And  the  dinner  itself  is  so  good.  How  lucky 
it  is  that  mamma  does  not  hear  me  !  It  is  the  sort  of  thing 
she  would  hate  me  to  say;  but  the  soup  was  perfectly 
delicious,  so  unlike  our  dull  Scotch  broth;  only  I  wish  it 
had  not  been  spilt  on  my  new  gown,  and  on  the  front 
breadth  too;  just  look,  Sarah.  What  a  pity!  and  it  was 
all  the  fault  of  the  servant.  Those  great  tall  footmen 
frighten  me  out  of  my  senses,  and  I  wish  they  would  not  go 
on  offering  one  all  the  dishes,  it  is  so  tiresome;  I  go  on 
saying  '  No,  no,  no,'  all  dinner-time.  Lord  Beaufort  said 
I  ate  nothing." 

"  Ah,  by  the  by,  miss,"  said  Sarah,  rousing  up,  "  how 
came  you  to  contrive  to  sit  by  Lord  Beaufort?  You  are 
always  taking  the  best  places,  and  as  I  am  the  eldest,  I 
ought  to  have  my  choice  sometimes." 

"  Yes,  but  as  I  am  the  youngest,  other  people  have  their 
choice,"  said  Eliza,  laughing.  "  However,  you  need  not 
mind  it  this  time,  Sarah.  Lord  Beaufort  was  obliged  to 
take  the  only  place  that  was  vacant,  because  he  did  not 
come  in,  you  know,  till  dinner  was  half  over,  and  so  that 

47 


48  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

was  the  reason  why  he  sat  by  me.  He  spoke  to  me  three 
times,  and  asked  me  to  have  some  wine.  Did  you  observe 
his  w^aistcoat,  Sarah  ?  '  such  a  love !  '  as  Lady  Eskdale 
would  say." 

"  How  you  do  run  on,  Eliza !  I  wish  you  would  let  me 
have  the  looking-glass  for  one  minute,  if  you  have  looked 
at  yourself  enough." 

"  Law,  my  dear,  you  may  have  it  for  a  week  if  you  like. 
I  was  only  taking  a  last  fond  look  at  this  dear  gown,  before 
I  take  it  off.  I  shan't  have  an  opportunity,  probably,  of 
wearing  it  again  for  the  next  six  months;  not  that  I  shall 
actually  have  any  great  pleasure  in  it  again,  because  of 
those  grease  spots.  I  wish  that  servant  had  not  done  it. 
So  awkward  and  provoking!  However,  I  hope  we  shall 
dine  there  again  some  day  or  another." 

"  And  I  hope  we  never  shall  as  long  as  we  live,"  said 
Sarah,  emphatically.  She  had  taken  one  look  at  herself 
in  the  glass,  and  then  threw  herself  into  a  chair  with  an 
air  of  deep  despondency. 

"  Never  dine  there  again  as  long  as  we  live !  "  repeated 
Eliza.  *'  Why,  Sarah,  what  is  the  matter?  You  can't  be 
well.     What  can  have  happened?  " 

"  Something  dreadful,"  said  Sarah,  in  a  deep  tone. 

"Why,  what  can  it  be?  You  have  not  greased  your 
gown  too?  "  said  Eliza,  starting  up  as  if  she  had  made  a 
great  discovery. 

"  No." 

"  What  then?  Have  you  lost  anything?  forgotten  your 
fan?    dropped  your  bracelet?  " 

"  Oh,  no;  worse  than  all  that;  it  is  something  dreadful 
that  has  been  said  of  us." 

"Good  gracious!  what?  What  can  they  find  to  say 
of  us?" 

"  Something  quite  shocking !  "  and  Sarah  actually 
coloured  at  the  mere  thought  of  repeating  it. 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  49 

"  Well,  tell  it,  at  all  events ;  I  should  like  to  know  the 
worst." 

"  It  was  just  when  you  were  sitting  by  the  pianoforte, 
and  I  was  behind  the  sofa,  and  Mr.  Trevor  came  up  to 
Lady  Eskdale  and  said,  looking  at  the  flowers  and  the  silver 
comb  in  your  hair,  '  Don't  you  think  those  silver  epergnes 
full  of  flowers  would  look  better  on  a  dining-table  than 
walking  about  a  drawing-room?  I  know  nothing  of  dress, 
but  is  not  that  a  little  in  the  May-day  line — rather  chimney- 
sweeperish?  '  " 

"  No,  did  he  really  say  that?  "  and  Eliza  looked  aghast. 
"  What  a  horrid  man !  " 

"  Yes,  but  that  is  not  the  worst.  Lady  Eskdale  said, 
'Don't  laugh  at  those  poor  girls,  Alfred;  they  are  dear 
good  creatures,  though  they  are  vulgarly  dressed.'  There, 
Eliza,  now  is  not  that  dreadful,  and  so  hard  too,  when  we 
took  such  pains  about  our  dress,  and  thought  it  was  so 
nice?  "  and  Sarah's  voice  quivered  with  vexation. 

"  Oh,  never  mind,  dear ;  don't  fret  about  it,  you  did  look 
very  nice.  I'm  sure  I  thought  so ;  and  if  we  wore  too  many 
flowers  to-day,  next  time  we  will  wear  none;  and  as  for 
that  Mr.  Trevor,  I  dare  say  he  knows  nothing  about  dress." 

"  But  I  wish  we  were  not  like  chimney-sweepers." 

"  I  say,  Sarah,  it  would  be  rather  good  fun  to  go  to 
Eskdale  Castle  with  our  faces  blackened,  and  we,  covered 
with  flowers  and  tinsel,  dancing  round  Mr.  Trevor, 
rattling  our  shovels." 

"  Don't  talk  nonsense,  Eliza.  I  never  thought  we  were 
vulgar." 

"  Nor  I ;  but  we  cannot  help  it  if  we  are.  I  think  we 
are  two  very  nice  girls,  and  Helen  does  not  despise  us. 
Oh,  Sarah,  how  beautiful  she  is,  and  how  I  should  like  to 
be  going  to  be  married  to  Lord  Teviot !  that  is,  I  should 
not  like  it  at  all  except  I  were  Helen.  I  should  be  afraid 
of  him  as  I  am." 

D 


50  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

"  Ah,  she  looked  very  pretty,"  said  Sarah.  "  She  had 
no  flowers  in  her  hair,"  and  with  a  deep  sigh,  Sarah  un- 
pinned a  gigantic  bunch  of  camellias,  "  and  her  hair  was 
braided  quite  smooth  " ;  and  Sarah  gave  a  desperate  tug 
at  a  highly  frizzed  set  of  bows  which  she  had  built  up  on 
the  top  of  her  head  with  some  pride. 

Eliza  burst  out  laughing ;  Sarah's  distress  seemed  to  her 
to  be  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  calamity,  and  she  was  too 
merry  and  too  light-hearted  herself  to  be  discomposed  by 
such  a  trifle.  "  I  hope  they  will  ask  us  again,"  she  mur- 
mured as  she  sank  to  sleep. 

"  What  shall  we  wear  if  they  do?  "  Sarah  responded. 

"  Black  jackets,  tin  foil,  and  calico  roses,  with  shovels 
for  fans,"  said  Eliza,  in  a  sleepy  voice;  and  in  another 
moment  their  troubles  were  forgotten. 


CHAPTER   VII 

Eliza's  wishes  were  more  than  fulfilled,  for  the  following 
day  she  received  a  very  kind  note  from  Helen,  asking  her 
to  be  one  of  her  bridesmaids,  and  this  was  accompanied 
by  a  very  pretty  dress,  with  Lady  Eskdale's  "  kind  love," 
and  a  note  to  invite  Mrs.  Douglas  also  to  the  wedding,  and 
Mr.  Douglas  and  Sarah  to  the  breakfast  that  was  to  follow  it. 

Mrs.  Douglas  could  hardly  do  less  than  make  a  very 
great  grievance  of  what  was  intended  as  a  kindness.  She 
hated  a  wedding:  it  was  just  the  sort  of  thing  that  the 
world  chose  to  make  a  fuss  about,  but  which  she  thought 
the  most  uninteresting  ceremony  on  earth.  She  did  not 
see  why  she  was  to  dress  herself  out  in  satin  and  blonde 
just  to  go  and  hear  two  young  people  make  foolish  promises 
that  they  never  could  keep.  What  could  be  more  absurd 
than  to  assemble  a  crowd  to  witness  a  man  and  woman 
promising  to  love  each  other  for  the  rest  of  their  lives, 
when  we  know  what  human  creatures  are, — men  so 
thoroughly  selfish  and  unprincipled,  women  so  vain  and 
frivolous  ?  This  wholesale  way  of  dealing  with  her  fellow- 
creatures  was  one  of  Mrs.  Douglas's  favourite  methods  of 
treating  them.  "  I  should  like  to  go  in  my  garden  bonnet 
and  coloured  muslin  gown,  just  to  show  how  I  despise 
their  love  of  fashion,"  she  said,  as  she  sealed  the  note  to 
her  milliner,  which  was  to  order  the  well-chosen  dress  and 
bonnet  on  which  she  had  determined  for  the  occasion; 
for  the  energy  with  which  she  declaimed  against  dress  did 
not  at  all  interfere  with  her  inclination  to  spend  a  great 
deal  of  money  on  it. 

51 


52  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

So  to  the  wedding  she  went,  and  this  is  her  description 
of  it. 

"  My  dear  Sister, 

"You  will  expect  to  have  some  account  of  the  Esk- 
dale  wedding,  so  I  may  as  well  write  to-night,  though  I 
am  completely  knocked  up.  You  know  what  a  wretched 
sleeper  I  am,  and  of  course  I  could  not  close  my  eyes 
till  five,  from  feeling  that  I  was  to  be  called  an  hour 
earlier  than  usual ;  and  then,  what  with  breakfasting  in  a 
hurry,  and  dressing,  and  fancying  we  were  too  late,  I  was 
quite  ill  by  the  time  we  arrived  at  the  Castle.  Eliza  was 
to  be  one  of  the  bridesmaids,  and  Lady  Eskdale  gave  her 
her  dress.  I  must  own  I  thought  it  a  shabby  present ;  but 
as  Eliza  was  pleased,  of  course  I  did  not  say  so.  When  we 
arrived  at  the  Castle,  there  was  poor  Lady  Eskdale  looking 
ninety  at  least,  though  Mr.  Douglas  will  not  see  how  old 
she  is  grown,  and  the  tears  rolling  down  her  cheeks,  while 
she  kept  saying,  '  We  are  to  have  no  crying,  that  is  all 
settled,  and  no  melancholy  leave-takings  on  account  of 
poor  dear  Helen;  we  are  none  of  us  to  shed  a  tear.'  I  am 
the  worst  person  in  the  world,  you  know,  to  enter  into 
these  prettinesses.  I  could  only  say,  '  There  was  no  use  in 
crying,'  or  some  platitude  of  that  sort,  for  sentiment  bores 
me.  Lady  Amelia  stayed  with  Helen  till  almost  the  last 
moment,  and  then  came  and  made  the  sort  of  fuss  with  her 
mother  which  all  that  family  make  with  each  other. 
Amelia's  beauty  is  one  of  those  delusions  I  have  never 
given  into.  Large  eyes  and  dark  eyebrows,  and  a  great 
display  of  hair — I  presume  it  is  all  her  own — and  a  way  of 
playing  her  features  about  as  if  she  were  more  intelligent 
than  other  people.  It  may  be  natural,  but  it  looks  like 
affectation.  We  all  went  in  solemn  procession  to  the 
chapel,  through  rows  of  servants.  What  the  expense  of 
that  establishment  must  be  I  cannot  imagine,  nor  how  the 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  53 

Eskdales  have  gone  on  so  long  without  coming  to  a  stop. 
As  soon  as  we  were  arranged  in  our  places,  Lord  Eskdale 
and  Helen  came  in  at  one  door,  and  Lord  Teviot  and 
Lord  Beaufort  at  another;  and  they  all  went  straight  to 
the  altar,  with  a  great  tangle  of  bridesmaids  behind  them. 
I  thought  it  all  a  most  theatrical  arrangement.  Why  could 
they  not  come  like  John  and  Jane  Smith  to  be  married,  like 
other  people,  at  the  village  church  ?  Helen  was  so  covered 
with  Brussels  lace  that  I  cannot  say  how  she  looked ;  some 
of  the  company,  of  course,  declared  she  looked  beautiful. 
I  saw  nothing  but  a  veil — a  mere  lace  veil;  and  besides,  I 
have  always  set  my  face  against  the  absurd  idea  that  all 
brides  look  pretty.  She  shook  very  much,  and  though  I 
am  the  last  person,  from  my  friendship  for  the  Eskdales,  to 
hint  at  the  real  state  of  the  case,  I  have  a  sad  foreboding 
that  Helen  marries  with  the  prospect  of  being  one  of  the 
most  unhappy  women  in  England.  And  I  do  not  wonder 
at  it.  Lord  Teviot  is  one  of  the  worst  specimens  of  the 
class  dandy  I  ever  saw ;  and  I  am  much  mistaken  if  his 
temper  will  not  be  a  sad  trial  to  poor  Helen.  However, 
don't  quote  me.  You  never  saw  such  a  frightful  effect  as 
the  coloured  glass  had  on  Lady  Eskdale's  looks;  and  I 
think  Lord  Eskdale's  hair  has  grown  suddenly  gray.  It 
may  have  been  the  reflection  of  the  blue  glass ;  but  it  gave 
me  the  impression  of  gray  hair:  and  I  suppose  all  his 
worries  must  tell  upon  him  at  last.  The  chapel  was  all 
dressed  out  with  flowers;  and  I  could  hardly  attend  to 
the  ceremony,  because  I  was  expecting  every  moment  to 
feel  faint  with  the  smell  of  the  lilies  and  heliotrope ;  and 
then  I  thought  I  should  catch  my  death  of  cold  by  standing 
on  the  marble  pavement.  To  be  sure,  the  manners  of  the 
present  day  are  very  different  from  what  even  I  can 
remember.  I  saw  Lord  Beaufort  shuffling  a  cushion  about 
with  his  feet,  and  thought  that  he  was  of  course  going  to 
give  it  to  me  to  stand  on,  when  down  he  went  on  his  knees, 


54  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

and  began  saying  his  prayers,  without  the  least  considera- 
tion for  my  chances  of  cramp.  After  the  ceremony  there 
was  a  long  scene  of  congratulation,  and  we  all  embraced 
each  other,  without  sparing  age  or  sex.  I  had  a  narrow 
escape  of  a  '  salute  '  from  Robinson,  the  old  tutor,  and 
Lizzy  was  frightened  out  of  her  wits  by  a  kiss  from  Lord 
Eskdale.  There  was  a  great  breakfast  immediately  after 
the  wedding,  to  which  most  of  the  neighbourhood  were 
invited.  Helen  went  to  change  her  dress,  and  Lord  Teviot 
stalked  about  amongst  the  company  for  a  little  while, 
looking  bored  and  sullen.  I  always  pity  the  bridegroom 
on  these  occasions.  The  bride  is  supported  by  her  father, 
and  attended  by  her  bridesmaids,  and  everybody  is  or 
pretends  to  be  in  a  fright,  lest  she  should  faint  or  cry ;  and 
she  has  all  the  protection  of  a  veil  in  case  she  should  be  too 
shy,  or  not  shy  enough;  and  there  is  a  general  sympathy 
in  her  feelings.  The  poor  man  has  to  walk  himself  up 
alone  to  the  altar,  where  he  stands,  looking  uncommonly 
foolish,  without  even  the  protection  of  his  hat.  There  is 
the  mother  sobbing  at  him  for  carrying  off  her  child ;  the 
sisters  scowling  at  him  because  he  did  not  choose  one  of 
them;  the  clergyman  frowning  at  him  for  not  producing 
the  ring  at  the  right  moment,  or  for  neglecting  the  responses 
in  their  proper  places;  the  brothers  laugh  at  him;  the 
bride  turns  from  him ;  and  the  only  person  who  pays  him 
the  slightest  attention  is  the  clerk,  who  tells  him  when  he  is 
to  kneel,  and  when  to  stand,  and  which  is  his  right  hand, 
and  which  his  left,  and  helps  him  to  the  discovery  of  his 
waistcoat  pocket,  in  which  the  ring  may  or  may  not  be. 
Lord  Teviot  is  not  a  man  to  look  foolish,  but  he  decidedly 
looked  cross. 

"  Two  carriages-and-four  were  waiting  at  the  door,  and 
an  immense  crowd  was  assembled  round  them.  We  all 
went  and  stood  on  the  marble  terrace  above,  and  in  half 
an  hour  Lord  Eskdale  led  Helen  out  from  the  cloister  door, 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  55 

and  handed  her  into  the  carriage.  Lord  Teviot  stepped  in, 
and  they  drove  off,  followed  by  the  other  carriage,  in  which 
all  the  dressing-boxes  and  the  jewel-cases  and  the  valet 
and  the  maid  had  been  packed  up  for  some  time.  You 
know  that  Lady  Teviot's  maid  is  that  pert  Nancy  who 
originally  waited  in  my  school-room,  and  of  course  I  am 
rather  amazed  at  her  presumption,  calling  herself  Mrs. 
Tomkinson,  and  travelling  in  a  carriage-and-four.  Lady 
Eskdale  came  back  to  the  company,  still  crying,  and  still 
declaring  it  was  the  gayest  wedding  she  had  ever  seen, 
and  that  she  was  so  glad  there  had  been  no  tears.  I  was 
dead  tired  when  I  got  home,  and  am  very  glad  that  the 
Eskdales  have  married  all  their  daughters,  and  that  we 
have  no  more  weddings  to  do.  Adieu,  my  dear  sister.  Is 
it  true  that  your  son  has  sold  out  of  the  15th?  If  I  were 
you,  I  would  advise  him  to  live  less  at  clubs,  and  not  to 
keep  so  many  horses. 

"  Yours  ever, 

"  A.  Douglas." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

And  now,  whatever  might  have  been  Helen's  fears  or 
hopes,  her  fate  was  sealed.  She  had  turned  to  that  page 
of  life  over  which  she  had  lingered  with  distressful  doubt ; 
and  now  it  must  be  read,  though  on  herself  partly  must  she 
depend  for  the  interpretation  of  the  characters  it  bore. 
St.  Mary's  Abbey,  at  which  her  honeymoon  was  to  be 
passed,  was  the  most  magnificent  of  all  Lord  Teviot's 
residences.  It  almost  calls  for  a  formal  description;  but 
how  can  anyone  be  expected  to  write  what  no  one  ever 
reads  when  it  is  written?  That  pert  Nancy,  now  by  the 
grace  of  presumption  styling  herself  Mrs.  Tomkinson, 
addressed  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Hervey,  the  housekeeper  at 
Eskdale  Castle,  in  which  she  gave  her  views  of  St.  Mary's 
Abbey,  and  in  her  sketchy  way  she  succeeds  so  well  in  the 
descriptive  art,  that  it  is  impossible  to  join  in  the  total 
contempt  with  which  Mrs.  Douglas  looked  down  upon  her 
from  the  marble  terrace. 

"Dear  Mrs.  Hervey, 

"  I  hope  this  will  find  you  in  good  health  and 
sperrits — not  forgetting  all  other  friends  at  the  old  house. 
Me  and  my  lady  are  quite  well,  and  have  no  reason 
to  complain  that  we  have  changed  our  abode  for  the 
worst.  We  were  very  nervous  that  day  what  we  left 
you,  me,  in  particular,  that  had  been  sitting  in  the  Bruche, 
baked  to  a  jelly,  and  watching  all  those  jewel-boxes  while 
my  lady  was  bidding  good-bye,  and  with  that  great  mob 
of  people  staring  at  me.  But  Mr.  Phillips  was  very  atten- 
tive, and  helped  me  to  bow  to  them  as  we  driv  off.     He 

56 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  57 

seems  a  superior  young  man,  quite  a  London-bred  servant, 
and  quite  confidential  with  my  lord,  which  was  the  reason 
why  he  was  left  at  St.  Mary's  during  my  lord's  courtship, 
because  he  knew  all  the  plans  about  the  furniture.  We 
went  at  such  a  pace  that  I  was  quite  giddy,  but  found  great 
comfort  in  the  sandwiches,  and  gingerbread,  and  chicken 
and  buns  you  put  into  the  carriage,  which  was  a  kind 
thought,  for  otherwise  we  should  have  gone  the  whole  fifty 
miles  without  refreshment.  When  we  had  arrived  all  but 
a  mile,  my  lord's  tenants  met  us,  and  took  the  horses  off 
from  my  lord  and  lady,  and  dragged  them  their  own  selves ; 
and  they  came  to  drag  us,  but  Mr.  Phillips  explained  that 
we  was  only  own  man  and  lady's  maid,  and  that  our 
horses  were  to  be  let  alone.  So  they  hurraed  and  threw 
flowers,  and  it  was  very  agitating.  When  we  arrived,  my 
lord  made  a  speech,  and  my  lady  made  a  curtesy,  and  I 
got  the  imperials  and  boxes  in  as  soon  as  I  could.  I  was 
terrified  lest  any  of  our  new  troosso  should  be  stole.  Dear 
Mrs.  Hervey,  St.  Mary's  is  a  most  beautiful  place,  and  the 
great  mirrors  in  the  ball-room  are  alone  worth  coming  to 
see,  and  I  have  not  power  to  describe  the  scenery.  There 
is  a  lake  quite  full  of  water,  like  the  lakes  abroad,  and 
endless  woods  filled  with  the  finest  trees,  that  seem  to  run 
for  miles  and  miles,  and  gardens  that  beat  our  gardens  at 
the  castle  all  to  nothing.  The  furniture  would  please  you 
in  particular,  chiefly  silk  and  damask,  but  some  rooms  with 
velvet;  and  my  lady's  suite  of  rooms  is  what  I  can't 
describe — straw-coloured  satin  embroidered  with  real 
flowers — and  such  cabinets  and  china,  and  on  the  dressing- 
table  a  service  of  gold  plate  with  my  lady's  name  on  it. 
Mrs.  Nelson  won't  like  to  see  it,  she  was  so  set  up  about  her 
lady's.  In  every  respect  I  feel  satisfied  with  the  accommo- 
dations for  me  and  my  lady,  except  that  I  was  obleeged  to 
ask  for  another  wardrobe,  and  to  tell  Mrs.  Stevens  that  I 
was  accustomed  to  a  larger  looking-glass  in  my  own  room. 


58  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

Mrs.  Stevens  and  me  seem  inclined  to  be  very  friendly; 
she  is  the  very  moral  of  a  housekeeper  in  a  romance,  quite 
an  old  lady.  We  are  a  princely  establishment,  and  sit 
down  twelve  in  the  Steward's  room,  with  wine,  and  a  man 
and  boy  to  wait.  Mrs.  Stevens  and  me  joke  each  other 
about  our  beaux,  for  there  are  ten  gentlemen,  and  only  us 
two  ladies,  and  Mr.  Phillips  has,  of  course,  the  precedence. 
I  hope  to  pick  up  a  little  French  between  the  cook  and  the 
confectioner.  I  wish  you  would  ask  Mrs.  Warren  whether, 
when  Lady  Amelia  married,  she  did  not  get  all  her  lady- 
ship's shawls  with  the  rest  of  the  things.  My  lady  kept 
her  suit  of  Brussels,  and  I  had  nothing  to  say  again  that, 
for  I  believe  Brussels  lace  is  what  every  lady  have  a  right 
to  keep ;  but  she  also  kept  two  shawls,  which  I  believe  are 
my  perquisites,  as  my  lady  wore  them  before  my  lord 
proposed.  I  want  to  know  if  you  and  Mrs.  Warren  and 
Mrs.  Nelson  think  that  their  being  real  Ingee  makes  a 
difference.  My  mind  misgives  me,  it  does.  It  is  not  for 
the  lucre  of  gold  I  speak,  nor  that  I  would  grudge  my  lady 
the  shawls,  nor  the  gown  off  my  back  if  she  wanted  it,  but 
I  hate  to  see  poor  servants  defrauded,  and  if  the  shawls  is 
my  due,  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  mentioning  it.  I  had 
not  time  to  tell  you  of  the  pride  of  that  Mrs.  Douglas,  who 
met  me  on  the  wedding-day,  and  said  '  Fine  times  for  you, 
Nancy;  your  head  will  be  turned.'  I  was  mad  with 
myself  afterwards  for  having  made  her  a  curtesy,  and  said, 
*  Yes,  indeed,  ma'am,'  when  I  might  as  well  have  said 
something  sharp.  If  Lady  Eskdale  asks  if  you  have  heard 
from  me,  will  you,  please,  make  my  duty,  and  say  that  my 
lady  is  quite  well,  and  has  had  no  cold  or  headache.  Mrs. 
Stevens  thinks  her  the  beautifullest  lady  she  ever  saw,  and 
compliments  me  high  on  my  manner  of  hair-dressing. 
"  I  remain,  dear  Mrs.  Hervey, 

"  Your  kind  friend, 

"  Ann  Tomkinson,'* 


CHAPTER   IX 

It  is  not  worth  while  to  give  any  of  Helen's  letters  to 
her  family.  Some  years  ago  it  was  the  fashion  of  all  newly- 
married  people  to  write  w^ord  to  their  friends  that  they 
were  the  happiest  of  human  creatures.  Heaven  alone 
knows  if  it  were  true,  but  so  they  always  said.  Now  this 
romantic  state  of  bliss  has  been  laughed  at  in  society,  and 
sneered  at  in  novels,  till  nobody  dares  say  a  word  about  it. 
It  may  be  wiser,  but  it  is  not  quite  satisfactory.  The 
domestic  novels  of  the  day  have  described  with  such 
accuracy,  and  with  so  much  satire,  all  the  little  fidgety 
amiabilities  of  life,  that  a  wife  who  is  inclined  to  praise 
her  husband  checks  herself,  for  fear  she  should  be  reckoned 
like  Mrs.  Major  Waddell.  An  active  mother  has  a  suspicion 
that  she  is  laughed  at  as  a  Mrs.  Fairbairn,  and  the  kindly 
affections  of  the  heart  are  now  so  carefully  wrapped  up 
and  concealed,  that  it  seems  just  possible  that  they  may 
die  altogether  of  suffocation. 

Helen  did  not  commit  herself  by  any  asseverations  of 
extraordinary  happiness,  and  made  no  mention  of  any 
fresh  trait  of  perfection  that  every  day  must  have  revealed 
in  Lord  Teviot's  character;  but  there  was  St.  Mary's  to 
describe,  and  the  neighbourhood  to  explain,  and  all  the 
various  congratulatory  letters  she  received  were  duly 
quoted,  and  her  own  regularly  ended  wdth  "  Teviot's  love 
to  all";  and  Lady  Eskdale  was  satisfied.  Amelia  read 
her  sister's  letters  with  greater  distrust.  She  thought  they 
were  written  in  a  constrained,  guarded  tone,  and  she 
remembered  the  week  that  preceded  the  wedding  with  pain 

59 


6o  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

and  doubt.  She  hoped  in  another  fortnight  to  see  and 
judge  for  herself;  but  Mr.  Trevor  and  she  were  summoned 
into  Sussex  by  the  sudden  death  of  his  father;  and  ten 
days  after  Helen's  marriage  Lord  and  Lady  Eskdale  sat 
down,  for  the  first  time  during  the  last  ten  years,  to  a 
tete-a-tete  dinner.  Poor  dear  people,  it  fairly  puzzled  them. 
They  were  more  attached  to  each  other  than  many  hus- 
bands and  wives  are  after  twenty-four  years  of  married 
life;  and  they  had  been  in  the  daily  habit  of  taking  a 
comfortable  half-hour's  talk  in  Lord  Eskdale's  library, 
uninterrupted  by  any  of  their  children.  But  they  had 
never  contemplated  the  possibility  of  dining  and  passing 
the  whole  evening  together,  without  a  child  to  come  in  to 
dessert,  or  a  daughter  to  look  at  and  listen  to.  Then  who 
was  to  make  breakfast  the  next  morning,  and  to  answer 
notes,  and  to  receive  visitors?  Lady  Eskdale  was  quite 
posed.  She  actually  ordered  a  riding-habit,  and  declared 
she  would  begin  riding  again  with  Lord  Eskdale,  who 
hated  going  out  alone,  and  had  always  been  accompanied 
by  one  of  his  children.  Then  she  thought  she  could  rub 
up  music  enough  to  play  to  him  after  dinner;  but  when 
the  evening  came  she  was  fast  asleep  on  the  sofa,  half  dead 
with  the  fatigue  of  her  morning  ride,  and  she  almost 
cried  when  a  note  was  brought  to  her  that  required  an 
answer — partly  because,  as  she  said  and  thought,  she 
missed  Helen  so  much,  and  partly  because  she  was  too 
indolent  to  sit  up  to  write. 

"  I  don't  think  I  can  ever  exist  in  this  way,  Lord  Esk- 
dale," she  said.  "  What  is  to  be  done?  here  is  this  note 
to  be  answered." 

"  Give  it  to  me,  Jane;   I  will  be  your  secretary." 

"  Thank  you,  that  is  very  good  of  you.     It  is  a  great 

relief  for  this  once ;   but  how  am  I  to  get  on  when  you  are 

out?    To  be  sure,  that  poor  dear  Lord  Walden  might  as 

well  have  put  off  dying  just  for  a  month,  and  then  the 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  6i 

Trevors  could  have  stayed  here.  I  am  utterly  lost  without 
Amelia.  There  never  was  anything  so  unlucky.  I  wish 
Beaufort  would  marry.  A  daughter-in-law  would  be 
better  than  nothing;  or  if  the  Waldegraves  would  come 
back  to  England,  Sophia  might  come  here.  It  is  really 
very  hard  to  have  no  daughter  at  all,  after  all  my  trouble  "  ; 
and  Lady  Eskdale's  voice  faltered. 

"  The  schoolmistress,  my  lady,"  said  the  groom  of  the 
chambers,  "  is  waiting  for  directions  about  the  children's 
stuff  books." 

"  There  again,  now  !  What  am  I  to  do  ?  I  have  mislaid 
the  patterns.  Very  well,  tell  her  I  will  send  to  her.  Now, 
Lord  Eskdale,  you  know  you  cannot  settle  about  the  school- 
children's  frocks;  that  was  poor  Helen's  business.  Dear 
child  !  I  do  trust  she  is  happy,  but  it  is  sad  work  marrying 
off  one's  daughters ;  it  makes  me  very  low  at  times.  Lord 
Eskdale,  do  you  think  if  I  were  to  ask  Mrs.  Douglas  to  let 
me  have  Eliza  here,  that  it  would  bore  me  very  much?  " 

"  You  must  be  the  best  judge  of  that,  my  dear  Jane; 
at  all  events,  take  care  to  ask  the  right  daughter,  not  the 
one  with  the  voice." 

"  No,  no;  I  mean  Eliza,  who  was  Helen's  bridesmaid. 
You  know  you  thought  her  very  pretty  that  day.  She 
plays  very  well  on  the  pianoforte,  and  I  could  take  care 
that  she  should  be  always  well  dressed;  and  she  would 
write  my  notes,  and  see  the  school-mistress,  and  help  to 
entertain  the  company.  She  is  a  good-humoured,  amiable 
girl,  and  I  have  always  felt  that  I  could  be  fond  of  her ; 
and  it  would  be  such  a  thing  for  her,  for  the  Douglases  see 
so  few  people.  I  wish  I  could  guess  whether  I  should  like 
this  plan  or  not.  I  can  ask  her  for  a  fortnight  only  at  first, 
and  if  it  does  not  do,  then  there  would  be  an  end  of  it." 

"As  you  please,  my  love;  it  concerns  you  more  than 
me." 

"  Yes,  but  I  wish  you  would  say  what  you  think  best; 


62  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

I  am  so  little  in  the  habit  of  making  up  my  own  mind. 
Helen  always  knew  what  I  should  like.  I  must  say  we 
have  been  unlucky  in  our  daughters  all  marrying  rich 
people.  If  any  one  of  them  had  married  a  younger  son 
without  a  shilling,  they  must  have  lived  with  us ;  but  my 
girls  had  no  time  allowed  them  to  look  about  them  and 
choose  for  themselves;  and  so  they  have  all  married  men 
with  country-houses  of  their  own,  and  I  have  lost  them 
all." 

And,  roused  by  this  overpowering  calamity  of  wealthy 
sons-in-law,  Lady  Eskdale  sat  up  to  write  her  note  to 
Mrs.  Douglas. 


CHAPTER   X 

*'  Mamma,"  said  Eliza  Douglas,  as  they  were  sitting 
working  in  the  evening,  "  did  you  know  that  the  Trevors 
had  left  Eskdale  Castle?" 

"  No,  my  love;  how  should  I  know  anything  about  the 
Trevors?  Lady  Amelia  never  deigned  to  call  here  but 
once,  and  then  at  an  hour  when  she  knew  I  should  be  out." 

"  Yes,  another  time  wdth  Mr.  Trevor,  mamma.  If  you 
remember ' ' 

"  Well,  Mr.  Trevor  wanted  to  see  your  father,  and  she 
was  obliged  to  come  with  him;   I  do  not  call  that  a  visit." 

"  And  then  on  Sunday,  mamma,  after  church?  " 

"  My  love,  what  is  the  use  of  contradicting  me  ?  If 
Lady  Amelia  did  call  then,  she  ought  to  be  ashamed,  with 
all  her  pretence  of  goodness,  to  pay  visits  at  all  on  Sunday. 
And  all  these  little  trifling  facts  make  no  difference,  in  my 
opinion,  that  all  these  young  women  are  much  too  fine  to 
pay  any  attention  to  their  mother's  old  friend.  Who  told 
you  they  were  gone?  " 

"  Mrs.  Birkett  told  Sarah,  and  Betsy  said,  when  she  was 
dressing  me,  that  she  had  seen  Lady  Eskdale's  maid,  who 
had  mentioned  it." 

"  Well,  now,  I  should  like  to  know  what  business  Betsy 
had  to  be  talking  to  Mrs.  Nelson.  It  will  not  at  all  do  for 
our  servants  to  get  a  habit  of  gossiping  at  Eskdale  Castle ; 
not  that  I  shall  be  at  all  sorry  if  it  obliges  me  to  speak  out 
and  to  make  a  thorough  reform  in  our  household :  I  am 
always  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  tell  servants  what  a 
thoroughly  bad  race  I  think  they  are." 

63 


64  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

"  That  must  be  encouraging  to  them,"  said  Mr.  Douglas, 
*'  and  produce  a  great  increase  of  attachment  to  yourself." 

"  Oh !  my  dear,  that  is  one  of  the  subjects  you  do  not 
understand,  and  so  you  may  as  well  not  talk  about  it.  If 
you  would  let  me  send  away  that  old  Thomas  of  yours,  the 
house  would  go  on  much  better.  Mrs.  Birkett,  and  Mrs. 
Dashwood,  and  everybody  says  I  manage  servants  better 
than  anybody;  and  I  know  I  do,  by  never  letting  them 
have  their  own  way  on  any  one  point;  and  as  for  attach- 
ment, you  might  as  well  expect  it  from  this  table." 

"  I  should  think  so,  under  the  circumstances,"  said  Mr. 
Douglas;  "but  whatever  you  do,  do  not  interfere  with 
Thomas." 

A  silence  followed  while  Mrs.  Douglas  was  thinking 
what  a  clever  manager  she  was,  and  how  well  she  contrived 
to  make  her  servants  hate  her;  and  then  her  thoughts 
recurred  to  the  Eskdales. 

"  So  Amelia  is  gone;  I  suppose  to  some  gay  party  at  a 
country-house.  I  must  say,  that  after  all  the  fuss  that  has 
been  made  about  those  girls,  it  is  not  much  to  their  credit 
that  they  leave  their  parents  quite  to  themselves  in  their 
old  age,  while  they  are  flying  about  in  search  of  amusement. 
I  will  answer  for  it  Amelia  went  off  because  she  thought  it 
dull." 

"  Are  you  speaking  of  the  Trevors?  "  said  Mr.  Douglas, 
who  was  reading  the  paper.  "I  see  his  father  is  dead, 
and  they  have  been  sent  for  into  Sussex.  Trevor  is  now 
Lord  Walden." 

"  Oh !  "  said  Mrs.  Douglas ;  and  there  was  another  long 
silence. 

"Well,"  she  began  again,  "I  do  pity  Lord  Eskdale : 
I  do  not  see  what  he  is  to  do,  after  being  accustomed  to 
the  society  of  his  daughters,  and  used  to  having  one  of  them 
always  with  him.  Those  die-away,  languid  airs  of  Lady 
Eskdale's  must  be  rather  trying.    To  be  sure,  she  is  not  so 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  65 

young  as  she  was,  whatever  you  may  say,  Mr.  Douglas; 
but  she  might  exert  herself  to  be  a  little  more  of  a  com- 
panion to  him.  She  has  none  of  my  ideas  that  a  wife  is 
bound  to  exert  herself  for  her  husband's  good." 

"  I  met  them  riding  together  to-day,"  said  Mr.  Douglas. 

"  Riding,  my  dear !  " 

"  Yes,  riding,  Anne." 

"  You  must  be  dreaming,  Mr.  Douglas.  Lady  Eskdale 
on  a  horse !  " 

"  No,  my  love,  on  a  mare;  the  gray  mare  Helen  used 
to  ride." 

*'  Impossible!     How  was  she  dressed,  Mr.  Douglas?  " 

"  In  a  habit,  my  dear,  and  hat,  with  a  veil.  I  can 
swear  to  the  hat,  for  it  became  her  particularly." 

"  Well,"  said  Mrs.  Douglas,  with  a  scornful  laugh,  "  I 
think  this  is  by  far  the  most  amusing  thing  I  ever  heard. 
Lady  Eskdale  doing  the  youthful,  galloping  about  the 
country  flirting  with  her  husband;  I  suppose  she  will 
begin  dancing  next.  Lord  Eskdale  and  she  are  probably 
at  this  moment  practising  the  Gavotte  de  Vestris  up  and 
down  the  saloon.  I  don't  know  when  I  have  been  so 
diverted;  but  to  a  person  of  plain  commonsense  like 
myself,  the  tricks  and  ways  of  these  London  ladies  are 
amazingly  entertaining." 

"  However,  you  must  allow,  Anne,  that  this  is  not  a  die- 
away,  languid  air ;  and  as  you  take  such  a  kind  interest  in 
Lord  Eskdale's  fate,  you  will  be  happy  to  hear  that  he  said  he 
was  quite  delighted  to  have  his  wife  riding  with  him  again." 

"  Oh,  my  dear  love  !  unless  you  mean  to  make  me  quite 
ill,  you  must  not  offer  me  the  mawkish  idea  of  Lord 
Eskdale  making  pretty  speeches  to  his  wife;  I  really 
cannot  stand  that.  And  pray,  are  this  promising  young 
couple  likely  to  remain  long  in  their  solitary  paradise? 
or  are  they  going  to,  St.  Mary's  ?  or  is  there  any  company 
coming  to  the  castle?  " 

£ 


66  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

''  I  think  they  are  expecting  a  large  party  at  home. 
Lord  Eskdale  was  beginning  to  say  something  about  it,  and 
then  she  gave  him  a  look,  and  he  stopped  short." 

"  What !  I  suppose  we  are  not  to  know,  for  fear  we  should 
expect  to  be  asked.  Why,  it  is  just  the  very  thing  I  would 
go  miles  out  of  the  way  to  avoid,  and  the  last  society  into 
which  I  should  like  to  take  my  girls." 

"  Oh,  mamma !  "  said  Eliza,  "  I  wish  you  would  not  say 
that;  and  I  wish  they  would  ask  us  constantly  to  their 
house.  It  is  very  odd,  that  though  I  feel  afraid  of  every- 
body all  the  time,  there  is  nothing  I  like  so  much  as  dining 
there.  And  I  am  sure,  mamma,  it  would  be  very  good 
for  my  manner,  which  you  say  is  so  unformed  at  home. 
Before  I  have  crossed  the  hall  at  Eskdale  Castle  I  feel 
quite  refined,"  she  said,  laughing. 

Mrs.  Douglas  laughed  too,  for  though  she  rarely  lost  any 
opportunity  of  speaking  malevolently  of  her  neighbours' 
children,  she  was  very  much  disposed  to  admire  her  own. 
And  her  own  misanthropy  found  a  pleasant  relief  in  Eliza's 
enjoyable  views  of  life. 


CHAPTER   XI 

Lady  Eskdale's  note  of  invitation  arrived,  worded  in 
the  most  engaging  manner.  She  begged  Mrs.  Douglas  to 
consider  her  forlorn  situation,  and  to  lend  dear,  gay  Lizzy 
to  her  for  a  few  days — the  few  days  not  to  be  construed 
literally,  but  to  extend  to  a  fortnight  if  EHza  could  bear  to 
leave  home  for  so  long.  She  feared  it  would  be  very  dull 
at  first,  but  hoped  that  some  friends  who  were  expected 
would  amuse  that  tr^s  amusable  petite  personne.  If  Mrs. 
Douglas  consented  to  this  plan,  the  carriage  would  come 
for  Eliza  and  her  maid  the  next  day. 

Mrs.  Douglas  was  excessively  surprised.  It  was  unlucky 
that  she  had  just  said  so  much  against  the  manners  and 
customs  of  Eskdale  Castle — protests  made,  too,  in  vain,  for 
she  had  no  hesitation  in  allowing  Eliza  to  accept  the 
invitation.  The  friends  who  were  expected  might  include 
a  second  Lord  Teviot.  That  horrid,  rude  Lord  Beaufort 
might  be  at  home,  and  she  could  magnanimously  forgive 
his  nefarious  conduct  at  Helen's  wedding,  if  there  were  any 
chance  of  her  officiating  at  his  own  in  the  capacity  of  his 
mother-in-law.  Visions  of  grandeur  rose  before  her  eyes ; 
and  when  Mr.  Douglas,  in  the  consultation  held  between 
them  on  the  subject,  asked  if  she  had  not  said  that  the 
society  at  Eskdale  Castle  was  not  what  she  would  like  for 
her  daughters,  she  boldly  took  Falstaff's  line  of  defence 
when  accused  by  Justice  Shallow  of  having  broken  into 
his  park  and  stolen  his  deer.  "  I  have,  Mr.  Justice,  I 
have — and  so  I  hope  that's  answered." 

"  Yes,  my  dear,  I  said  so,  but  what  of  that?     It  is  rather 

67 


68  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

hard  to  be  tried  in  the  morning  for  every  Httle  careless 
word  spoken  over-night;  nothing  provokes  me  so  much  as 
to  be  accused  of  inconsistency,  when  it  does  so  happen  that 
I  am  remarkably  consistent.  However,  I  am  decidedly  in 
favour  of  Lizzy's  going,  so  it  does  not  much  matter  what  I 
said.    We  may  as  well  tell  her." 

Eliza  was  in  raptures.  "  A  whole  fortnight  of  visiting! 
and  only  think,  mamma,  of  Lady  Eskdale  saying  she  would 
send  for  my  maid.     Why,  I  have  none." 

"  You  must  take  Betsy,  I  suppose,  and  my  maid  must 
dress  Sarah.  It  will  turn  Betsy's  head,  and  make  her  rather 
perter  than  she  is;    but  it  cannot  be  helped." 

"  What  fun  it  will  be !  only  what  shall  I  do  about  going 
into  the  room  alone?  and  I  hope  I  shall  not  be  sent  out 
to  ride  with  Lord  Eskdale,  for  I  do  not  know  how  to  talk 
to  him.  And  then  about  dress,  mamma,  what  gowns  am  I 
to  take  ?  and  then  poor  Sarah,  left  all  alone,  how  unhappy 
she  will  be !  Oh,  no !  she  won't  though,  because  of  Mr. 
Wentworth's  coming  here;  and  besides,  I  shall  write  to 
her  every  day." 

This  hint  of  Mr.  Wentworth  was  well  thrown  in.  Sarah 
was  just  beginning  to  wonder  whether  she  ought  not  to  be 
affronted  because  Lady  Eskdale  had  not  invited  her  ;  but 
the  handsome  manner  with  which  Mr.  Wentworth  was 
made  over  to  her — he  being  the  only  semblance  of  a  lover 
that  had  ever  appeared  at  the  house — quite  appeased  her, 
and  her  affection  for  her  sister  was  always  strong  enough  to 
conquer  any  little  feeUngs  of  jealousy  awakened  by  Eliza's 
superior  popularity. 

*'  Yes,  you  must  certainly  write  every  day,"  she  said 
when  they  were  alone,  "  and  describe  all  your  little  diffi- 
culties.    I  think  you  will  be  very  fond  of  Lady  Eskdale." 

"  Yes,  I  am  sure  of  it;  she  is  '  such  a  dear,'  as  she  would 
say  herself.  But  Lord  Eskdale,  Sarah,  is  very  alarming,  is 
not  he?" 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  69 

"  Rather  so;  but  perhaps  he  will  not  take  much  notice 
of  you.  If  I  were  you,  Lizzy,  I  would  read  the  newspaper 
more  than  you  do;  and  then  you  can  talk  to  him  about 
trials,  and  murders,  and  politics,  and  accidents :  I  observe 
that  those  are  the  kind  of  topics  he  likes." 

"  Oh,  goodness,  Sarah !  think  of  me  talking  politics  to 
Lord  Eskdale ;  a  nice  mess  I  should  make  of  that.  No,  I 
had  better  not  think  about  it.  I  must  take  some  pretty 
work  with  me,  something  that  will  not  annoy  Lady  Eskdale 
in  the  drawing-room ;  and  then  music  is  always  a  resource. 
And  my  daily  letter  to  you ;  and,  Sarah,  mind  you  send  me 
every  particular  of  Mr.  Wentworth's  visit,  and  what  he  says, 
and  looks,  and  thinks.  Oh  dear  !  if  you  should  write  me 
word  he  had  proposed,  what  a  state  I  should  be  in!  " 

"  Oh,  nonsense !  "  said  Sarah,  "  there  is  no  chance  of 
that";  but  the  idea  led  her  into  a  dream  of  happiness; 
and  when  Eliza  and  her  Betsy,  her  embroidery  and  her 
best  gowns  were  all  carried  off  the  following  morning  in 
Lady  Eskdale's  carriage,  Sarah  saw  her  depart  without  one 
twinge  of  envy,  for  Mr.  Wentworth  had  sent  word  he  should 
arrive  in  time  for  dinner. 


CHAPTER   XII 

The  Teviots  had  reached  the  end  of  the  second  week  of 
their  honeymoon  undisturbed,  except  by  the  visits  of  two 
or  three  neighbours.  It  was  almost  time  that  there  should 
be  some  change,  at  least  Mrs.  Tomkinson  wished  to  good- 
ness there  might  soon  be  what  she  called  "  a  little  staying 
company  "  in  the  house,  if  it  were  only  that  my  lady 
might  wear  some  of  her  bettermost  gowns ;  and  she  also 
thought  my  lady  seemed  rather  moped  somehow.  Mr. 
Phillips  gave  it  as  his  humble  opinion  that  "  our  folks  had 
had  enough  of  their  own  company  for  one  while."  It 
has  never  been  definitely  stated  what  period  of  time 
"  one  while  "  comprises,  nor  whether  there  is  a  plural  to 
the  substantive,  and  "  two  whiles  "  represent  a  certain 
number  of  days  or  weeks.  However  that  may  be,  Phillips 
and  Tomkinson  had  judged  with  their  usual  discrimination. 
That  same  day  Lord  Teviot  went  into  Helen's  boudoir 
with  some  letters  in  his  hand. 

"  Helen,  here  is  some  company  for  you.  Lady  Portmore 
has  offered  herself  for  Friday." 

"  That  is  rather  a  short  notice,  is  it  not?  " 

"  Yes — no;  I  do  not  think  that  signifies.  We  should  be 
glad  of  her  visit,  either  on  a  short  notice  or  a  long  one.  / 
shall  be  delighted  to  see  her,  and  she  must  know  she  is 
welcome  at  St.  Mary's — always  has  been,  and  always  will 
be." 

"Are  you  expecting  any  other  friends?"  said  Helen, 
putting  aside  the  question  of  the  Portmore  welcome. 

"  Yes,  two  or  three  men.     Lady  Portmore  says  she  is 

70 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  71 

sure  we  shall  have  been  too  much  occupied  with  each 
other  " — and  he  smiled  rather  scornfully — "  to  think  of 
arranging  a  pleasant  party,  and  that  we  shall  be  obliged 
to  her  for  inviting  a  few  people  we  all  know." 

"  I  am  not  sure  that  I  am  obliged  to  her  just  now,"  said 
Helen,  hurrying  on  through  her  sentence.  "  My  letters  had 
given  me  the  idea  of  a  totally  different  plan.  The  Trevors 
have  been  obliged  to  go  to  Walden,  and  papa  and  mamma 
are  left  quite  alone;  and  I  thought  we  might  surprise 
them  with  a  visit  now,  instead  of  next  month,  when  you 
promised  to  go  to  them.  How  I  should  like  it !  but,  if  we 
cannot  put  off  Lady  Portmore " 

"  We  neither  can  nor  will,"  said  Lord  Teviot.  "  I  am 
sorry  you  are  already  tired  of  your  own  home ;  but,  such 
as  it  is,  I  am  afraid  I  must  trouble  you  to  stay  in  it.  And 
though  my  friends  are  not,  of  course,  to  be  compared  to 
yours,  I  cannot  begin  by  affronting  them  all." 

Helen  made  no  answer,  and  after  a  moment's  pause  took 
up  her  work.  Lord  Teviot  walked  to  the  window,  and 
began  playing  with  the  tame  bullfinch  that  stood  in  it. 
The  silence  that  ensued  was  long  and  awful,  but  was 
broken  by  him  as  he  said,  in  a  constrained  voice,  "  Have 
you  had  no  other  letter  but  that  from  your  mother?  " 

*'  None  of  any  consequence." 

"  Did  not  Beaufort  write?    I  thought  I  saw  his  hand." 

"  There  is  his  letter;  there  are  all  my  letters,  if  you  like 
to  see  them,"  said  Helen — a  faint  suspicion  dawning  on  her 
mind  that  Lord  Teviot  was  jealous  of  her  family.  He 
seemed  to  waver,  but  she  placed  them  on  the  table,  and, 
moving  her  work-frame  nearer  to  the  window,  left  the 
field  open  to  him.  He  took  up  the  letters  with  a  slight 
sensation  of  shame.  Lady  Eskdale's  was  as  usual  affec- 
tionate and  amiable;  and  though  she  expressed  strongly 
her  wish  to  see  her  daughter,  she  said  she  knew  it  was  not 
likely  Lord  Teviot  could  leave  his  home  again  so  soon; 


72  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

and  she  mentioned  her  invitation  to  Eliza  Douglas,  which 
she  hoped  would  satisfy  Helen's  doubts  of  her  comfort. 
"It  is  a  sad  change,  my  darling,  but  as  it  is  for  your 
happiness  I  cannot  complain,  and  your  letters  are  the 
greatest  possible  comfort  to  me.  Do  tell  your  idle  husband 
to  write  to  me."  Lord  Beaufort  wrote  from  London, 
where  he  had  seen  the  Portmores,  and  he  said  he  should 
have  joined  their  party  to  St.  Mary's,  but  that  he  was 
seized  with  a  fit  of  filial  duty,  and  meant  to  run  down  to 
Eskdale  Castle,  to  console  his  respected  and  deserted  papa 
and  mamma.  "  They  fancy,  poor  deluded  creatures,  that 
they  miss  you  dreadfully,  and  that  no  one  can  fill  up  your 
vacant  place.  Strange  illusion  !  which  my  august  presence 
will  instantly  dispel.  After  I  have  raised  their  spirits  to 
their  proper  pitch,  it  is  just  possible  that  I  may  raise  my 
own,  by  coming  to  see  my  little  Nell;  so  tell  Teviot  to 
expect  me,  and  to  turn  his  attention  towards  partridges 
and  pheasants."  There  was  a  third  letter  in  a  hand-writing 
Lord  Teviot  did  not  know.     "  Am  I  to  read  this,  Helen?  " 

"  If  you  like.  It  is  from  my  friend  Mary  Forrester,  of 
whom  you  may  have  heard  me  speak." 

"  Yes;  I  have  seen  her  at  the  Portmores:  a  very  hand- 
some girl.     Where  is  she  now?  " 

"  At  Richmond,  with  her  aunt." 

She,  like  the  other  two,  seemed  full  of  deep  interest  in 
Helen,  and  it  was  with  a  strange  mixture  of  pride  in  the 
affection  she  inspired,  and  jealousy  of  those  who  expressed 
it  so  warmly,  that  he  perused  these  letters.  He  saw  how 
tenderly  Helen  had  always  been  treated;  how  dear  she 
was  to  her  family.  He  himself  loved  Lady  Eskdale  almost 
as  a  mother.  Lord  Beaufort  was  one  of  the  young  men  of 
his  own  standing,  whom  he  liked  best ;  but  when  he  looked 
upon  them  as  his  rivals  in  the  heart  of  his  wife,  he  could  not 
bring  himself  to  speak  kindly  of  them,  at  least  not  to  her. 
He  hardly  knew  how  to  begin   the  conversation  again. 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  73 

Helen  seemed  to  have  no  curiosity  about  his  guests;  but 
he  recollected  a  paragraph  in  Beaufort's  letter  that  might 
help  him. 

"  Did  you  observe  that  Beaufort  says  your  cousin  Ernest 
is  coming  here?  " 

"  Yes,  I  supposed  he  was — at  least,  that  he  was  asked ; 
he  is  sure  to  be  included  in  the  Portmore  list." 

"  That  is  a  hit  at  Lady  Portmore,  I  suppose,"  said  Lord 
Teviot,  again  on  the  point  of  taking  fire ;  but  he  checked 
himself.  "It  will  be  a  great  pleasure  to  you  to  see  Ernest, 
I  should  think?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Helen,  faintly;    "  he  is  rather  amusing." 

"  More  than  th^t,  he  is  clever,  and  can  be  very  pleasant 
when  he  chooses.  I  am  going  to  answer  Lady  Portmore ! 
Have  you  any  message  ?  She  asks  if  she  can  bring  anything 
from  town  for  you?  " 

"  Nothing  whatever,  thank  you." 

"  Have  you  any  letters  for  the  post-bag?  " 

"  I  shall  have  one  for  papa." 

"  To  your  father?  "  said  Lord  Teviot;  and  suddenly  the 
thought  occurred  to  him  that  she  was  going  to  write  to 
complain  of  her  situation.  She  was  silent.  "  Might  I 
ask,  without  being  considered  impertinent,  what  is  this 
sudden  fancy  for  writing  to  Lord  Eskdale,  and  when  the 
idea  entered  your  head?  " 

Helen  stooped  down,  and,  taking  a  letter  from  the  work- 
basket  that  stood  by  her  side,  broke  the  seal.  She  pushed 
away  her  work-frame,  and  passing  quickly  by  the  table 
at  which  Lord  Teviot  sat — 

"  I  must  go  and  breathe  the  fresh  air,"  she  said,  and  her 
voice  sounded  low  and  dispirited.  "  There  is  my  letter  to 
my  father;  will  you  seal  it  and  send  it?  If  you  Hke  to 
write  in  this  room,  you  will  find  pens  and  paper  there,  and 
you  will  not  be  disturbed,  for  I  am  going  out."  She  went 
without  waiting  for  an  answer. 


74  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

"  So !  I  drive  her  out  of  her  own  room,  if  I  come  into 
it,"  thought  Lord  Teviot.  "  She  thinks  I  am  jealous,  or 
curious,  or  she  would  not  have  shown  me  all  these  letters. 
She  cannot  say  one  kind  word;  she  does  not  even  look 
kindly  at  me,  and  she  evidently  thinks  of  nothing  but  her 
own  family.  I  suppose  she  compares  me  with  all  these 
doting  relations,  and  thinks  me  cold  and  hateful ;  and  yet 
which  of  them  can  dote  on  her  as  I  do  if  she  would  let  me  ? 
She  would  actually  have  gone  back  to  them  without  me,  I 
believe.  No,  I  remember  she  said  we  ;  but  still  she  called 
Eskdale  Castle  her  home.  My  house  is  clearly  not  her 
home ;  and  she  has  not  asked  one  of  her  friends  to  come  and 
stay  here.  Does  she  think  I  should  not  like  it,  or  is  she 
afraid  that  they  will  see  she  is  not  happy?  Not  happy! 
Helen,  my  own  Helen,  whom  I  could  have  loved,  whom  I 
do  love,  as  I  never  loved  any  human  being.  There  are 
moments  when  I  think  she  hates  me.  Now  here  is  this 
letter  to  her  father.  How  quick  and  angry  she  was  about 
that!  I  did  not  ask  to  see  it.  I  did  not  know  she  had 
written  to  him  till  she  said  so  herself.  I  have  a  great  mind 
to  write  to  Lady  Eskdale,  and  to  ask  her  to  come  here. 
She  and  Lord  Eskdale,  and  Beaufort,  and  that  Miss  Douglas, 
and  the  whole  clan,  and  that  will  show  Helen  I  am  not 
jealous  of  them,  and  it  is  the  best  chance  I  have  of  pleasing 
her.  I  dare  say,  that  because  /  ask  them,  she  will  not  be 
glad  to  see  them.  Who's  knocking  there?  Come  in. 
Gome  in,  I  say.  Good  heavens,  how  I  hate  to  be  made  to 
roar  out  '  Gome  in  '  ten  times  over !  " 

"  It's  only  me,  my  lord,"  said  Mrs.  Tomkinson.  "  If 
you  please,  my  lord,  her  ladyship  has  left  her  bonnet  here." 

"  Very  well,  Mrs.  Tomkins,  look  for  it." 

"  Her  ladyship  will  be  ready  in  a  moment,  my  lord," 
said  Mrs.  Tomkinson,  who  could  not  resist  the  chance  of  a 
little  talk.  She  had  an  ambitious  idea  that  she  was  diving 
into  my  lord's  character. 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  75 

"  Very  well;    shut  the  door.'* 

"Umph!"  thought  Mrs.  Tomklnson,  as  she  obeyed; 
"  how  very  uncivil ;  and  calling  me  Tomkins,  too  !  I  hate 
to  be  called  out  of  my  name.  Now  I  should  like  to  know 
what  he's  doing  of  with  all  those  letters.  I  wonder  whether 
my  lady  chooses  for  him  to  be  ransacking  her  papers,  and 
whether  that's  the  right  thing  with  married  people.  Here's 
your  ladyship's  bonnet.  I  could  not  lay  my  hand  on  it 
rightly,  because  of  my  lord's  sitting  so  just  at  the  writing- 
table." 

"  Is  my  lord  writing?  " 

"  His  lordship  seemed  to  be  busy  with  some  papers  as 
was  on  the  table,"  said  Mrs.  Tomkinson,  guardedly,  and 
with  a  look  of  curiosity  to  see  if  the  hint  told.  The  pause 
that  ensued  left  her  still  in  doubt.  "  Shall  I  step  back  and 
tell  my  lord  your  ladyship  is  ready?  " 

'*  No,"  said  Helen,  absently. 

"  I  can  easily  go  back  on  pretence  to  see  for  your  lady- 
ship's gloves  " ;  and  Tomkinson  began  to  think  the  case 
was  assuming  great  interest. 

"  No,  no,"  said  Lady  Teviot,  thoroughly  roused;  "  don't 
disturb  Lord  Teviot;  he  was  so  good  as  to  offer  to  finish 
and  seal  my  letters ;   don't  run  in  and  out  to  disturb  him." 

"  Law,  my  lady,  how  good  his  lordship  is !  It  quite 
pleased  me  to  see  him  sitting  so  comfortable  and  at  home 
in  your  ladyship's  beautiful  boudoir.  I  wish  Lord  and 
Lady  Eskdale  were  here  to  see  how  happy  your  ladyship 
is.  There !  there's  my  lady  gone ;  I  declare  I  think  she 
looks  very  bad ;  not  a  hatom  of  colour  compared  to  what 
she  had.  I  ain't  quite  sure  yet  but  what  I  think  my  lord 
a  brute ;  at  least,  I  shall  make  a  point  of  thinking  so  if  he 
plagues  my  lady.  And  calling  me  Tomkins,  too — such 
an  idea !  " 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Lord  Teviot  wrote  all  his  invitations ;  then  he  thought 
of  showing  them  to  Helen  before  he  sent  them ;  and  then 
again,  he  felt  some  difficulty  in  renewing  the  conversation. 
The  waywardness  of  his  temper  had  so  often  displayed 
itself,  that  between  him  and  Helen  many  of  the  commonest 
topics  of  conversation  were  attended  with  awkwardness; 
and  he  had  discovered  that  she  not  only  abstained  from 
contradicting  him  on  any  point  that  had  once  inflamed 
his  temper,  but  that  she  never  even  alluded  to  the  disputed 
point  again.  Even  this  caution  offended  him.  A  bright 
thought  now  occurred  to  him ;  he  would  ask  Lady  Portmore 
to  bring  Miss  Forrester  with  her.  He  knew  they  were 
acquainted  with  each  other,  and  the  arrival  of  Helen's 
favourite  friend  would  reconcile  her  to  the  Portmore 
visitation,  and  to  the  consequent  delay  of  her  return  to 
Eskdale  Castle.  And  then  if  her  family  came,  he  did  not 
see  anything  of  which  she  could  complain ;  he  had  done 
all  he  could  to  please  her;  she  ought  to  make  allowance 
for  his  manner,  for  he  owned  that  it  was  at  times  rather 
taunting;  but  she  ought  to  be  above  such  trifles.  It  was 
a  pity  Lord  Teviot  had  never  read  Hannah  More.  Her 
prose  would  have  been  of  great  use  to  him ;  but  even  her 
poetry  would  have  taught  him  that 

"  Since  trifles  make  the  sum  of  human  things, 
And  half  our  misery  from  trifles  springs — 
Oh  !  let  the  ungentle  spirit  learn  from  thence 
A  small  unkindness  is  a  great  offence." 

And,  consequently,  a  series  of  small  unkindnesses  is 
very  offensive  indeed,  and  it  would  not  have  been  surprising 

76 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED    COUPLE  77 

if  Helen  were  offended.  But  she  was  not ;  she  was  depressed, 
half  frightened,  and  half  unhappy.  Lord  Teviot's  expres- 
sions of  affection  were  almost  as  alarming  as  his  anger; 
he  was  so  energetic  in  all  his  professions,  so  violent,  as  it 
seemed  to  her  who  had  been  accustomed  to  the  gentle 
love  of  her  mother  and  the  playful  tenderness  of  her  brother 
and  sisters,  that  she  did  not  know  how  to  answer  his 
vehement  protestations  and  eager  upbraidings.  And  then 
his  sudden  starts  of  temper  puzzled  her.  In  short,  she 
did  not  understand  him ;  and  amidst  all  the  grandeur  that 
surrounded  her,  and  the  magnificent  gifts  which  Lord 
Teviot  heaped  on  her,  she  felt  troubled.  She  longed  to 
be  at  home  again,  and  at  her  ease ;  but  she  was  too  gentle 
to  be  resentful. 

When  Lord  Teviot  had  despatched  his  letters,  he  found 
her  in  her  garden ;  not  one  of  the  old-fashioned  gardens, 
full  of  roses  and  honeysuckles,  and  sweet  peas,  suggestive 
of  the  country,  and  redolent  of  sweetness — but  in  a  first 
rate  gardener's  garden,  every  plant  forming  part  of  a 
group,  and  not  to  be  picked  or  touched  on  any  account; 
all  of  them  forced  into  bloom  at  the  wrong  time  of  the 
year;  and  each  bearing  a  name  that  it  was  difficult  to 
pronounce,  and  impossible  to  remember.  Helen  was 
standing  apparently  absorbed  in  admiration  of  a  Land- 
folium  SpeciosuTTij  which  she  had  been  assured  by  her 
gardener  was  "  a  better  variety "  of  the  Lancifolium 
Punctatum;  but  in  reality  she  was  thinking  first  of  her 
mother,  wondering  when  she  should  see  her  again;  and 
next  what  she  could  find  to  say  to  Lord  Teviot  at  dinner. 
She  hoped  he  would  not  look  for  her  before  that;  but 
just  as  she  had  devised  an  inoffensive  remark,  which  might 
be  hazarded  before  the  servants,  she  saw  him  standing 
beside  her,  and  the  conversation  had  to  begin  forthwith. 
The  flowers  were  a  safe  topic,  Lilium  Punctatum  played 
its  part ;    that  led  to  admiration  of  the  place.     Then  Lord 


78  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

Teviot,  who,  as  well  as  Mrs.  Tomkinson,  perceived  that 
"  My  lady  had  not  a  hatom  of  colour,"  offered  her  his 
arm,  and,  finding  no  signs  of  resentment,  thought  that  it 
would  be  a  greater  support  if  he  put  it  round  her  waist ; 
and  once  established  in  that  confidential  and  highly 
conjugal  attitude,  he  felt  he  could  explain  away  more  easily 
the  misunderstanding  of  the  morning.  And  when  he  saw 
the  delight  with  which  Helen  heard  of  the  arrangements  he 
had  made,  and  the  ecstasy  with  which  she  looked  forward 
to  the  arrival  of  her  family,  his  heart  smote  him  for  the 
pain  he  had  inflicted  on  her.  His  kindness  gave  her 
courage  and  spirits. 

"  And  so  you  have  written  yourself  to  Mary  Forrester; 
how  pleased  she  will  be!  Oh!  I  hope  she  will  come. 
And  you  have  really  asked  Eliza  Douglas,  your  own 
particular  guest?  Mrs.  Douglas  will  be  enchanted,  and 
of  course  say  something  bitter  about  it ;  but  still  she  will 
think  that  '  that  Lord  Teviot  has  some  good  qualities ; 
at  least,  she  tries  to  think  so  for  poor  Helen's  sake;  and, 
at  all  events,  he  is  very  civil  to  us.'  " 

"  Poor  Helen,"  repeated  Lord  Teviot,  as  he  pressed  her 
fondly  to  his  heart;  "  and  may  I  ask  why  you  are  poor 
Helen  with  Mrs.  Douglas?  " 

"  Oh !  because  everybody  who  is  not  a  Douglas  is 
poor  something  or  somebody.  She  has  for  years  pitied 
poor  mamma,  who  has  never  known  what  grief  is ;  and  I 
heard  of  her  saying  that  the  high  spirits  of  poor  Lord 
Beaufort  would  end  by  wearing  out  himself  and  everybody 
belonging  to  him." 

"  And  would  she  pity  you  now  ?  " 

"  Not  at  this  moment,"  said  Helen,  gaily  and  carelessly. 

"  And  even  a  moment  of  happiness  is  to  be  prized,"  he 
answered,  coldly;  "happiness  seldom  lasts  much  longer. 
However,  let  us  hope  you  may  overtake  it  again  on  Thursday. 
I  suppose  you  will  have  your  family  here  then." 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  79 

"  Did  you  name  Thursday  ?  " 

"  I  said  the  sooner  the  better — that  you  would  be  very 
uneasy  till  they  came,  and  that  I  should  hardly  be  able 
to  persuade  you  to  stay  at  St.  Mary's  much  longer  without 
them." 

"  It  was  only  because  mamma  was  alone  that  I  wished 
to  go  to  her  now,"  said  Helen,  timidly,  for  she  felt  a  change 
of  tone  in  the  conversation,  "  and  I  thought  she  would  be 
unhappy." 

"Oh!  it  requires  no  excuse;  nothing  can  be  more 
natural.  It  is  only  a  matter  of  surprise  to  me,  Helen, 
how  you  ever  prevailed  on  yourself  to  leave  her.  I  ought 
to  be  flattered  that  I  had  influence  enough  to  persuade 
you  to  take  such  a  step,  though  it  is  rather  a  check  to  my 
vanity  to  find  I  cannot  prevent  your  regretting  it." 

"  Dear  Teviot,  I  have  never  expressed  any  regret,  I 
am  sure." 

"  No,  you  are  much  too  guarded,  too  careful  of  giving 
offence,  I  mean ;  and  besides,  let  us  hope  that  even  moments 
of  happiness,  since  you  can  have  no  more " 

"  Has  that  offended  you  ?  Oh,  Teviot,  how  you  will 
misunderstand  me!  " 

"  I  am  very  unfortunate,  certainly;  my  want  of  compre- 
hension is  most  distressing.  Perhaps  if  our  feelings  were 
more  the  same,  my  obtuseness  would  not  be  so  great ;  but, 
as  it  is,  I  am  not  sufficiently  cool  and  guarded  to  judge 
calmly.  I  hoped  I  had  at  last  found  a  way  to  please  you ; 
however,  it  is  of  no  consequence.  I  have  intruded  on  your 
ladyship's  horticultural  pursuits,  I  fear,"  he  said,  with 
a  bad  imitation  of  playfulness;  "  you  must  have  wished 
me  away  repeatedly,  and  as  I  have  hardly  time  for  a  gallop 
before  dinner,  I  have  the  honour  to  take  my  leave." 

"  I  thought  you  meant  to  ride  in  the  evening,  but  I  can 
be  ready  in  a  moment." 

"  It  is  just  possible  that  I  may  be  able  to  ride  twice  in 


8o  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

one  day,  and  that  for  once  I  may  choose  to  ride  alone. 
I  have  been  long  enough  in  your  way  now,  and  so  good- 
bye." 

"  Now,  what  can  I  have  said  that  has  annoyed  him 
again?  "  thought,  Helen;  "  but  so  it  always  is;  he  never 
understands  me.  y  I  wonder  why  he  married  me ;  and  yet 
at  first  how  different  he  was  from  what  he  is  now !  When 
we  danced  together  in  London,  how  pleasant  he  was — so 
gay,  and  so  ready  to  talk  and  laugh  and  to  be  amused ! 
but  then  I  was  different  too,  and  more  amusing,  I  should 
think,  for  I  feel  so  grave  and  dull  now ;  and  whenever  I  try 
to  be  in  spirits,  I  say  something  that  vexes  him.  Well, 
papa  and  mamma  will  be  here  soon,  that  is  one  comfort, 
and  dear  Beaufort.  Nothing  ever  puts  him  out  of  sorts ; 
but  I  must  not  think  of  that." 

"^  Helen  wandered  home,  absorbed  in  ruminations  over 
her  new  position :  and  she  was  so  absent  that  Mrs.  Tom- 
kinson's  distrust  of  my  lord  was  confirmed ;  and  it  seemed 
almost  time  to  hint  her  very  low  opinion  of  him  to  Mr. 
Phillips. 

The  evening  passed  away  better  than  Helen  had  expected. 
Lord  Teviot's  gallop  had  put  him  into  better  humour ;  and 
Helen's  spirits  rose  when  she  was  dressed  for  dinner.  I 
have  often  observed  that  the  petty  vexations  and  worries 
of  the  early  part  of  the  day  are  taken  off  and  folded  neatly 
up  with  the  morning  gown ;  and  a  fresh  fit  of  spirits  and 
good-humour  put  on  with  the  evening  adornments.  It  is 
a  change  for  the  better,  personally  and  mentally. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

Thursday  came  with  its  promise  of  guests.  There 
was  no  answer  from  the  Portmores ;  so,  besides  the  interest- 
ing uncertainty  of  their  arrival,  it  remained  to  be  seen 
whether  Mary  Forrester  would  accompany  them.  Lady 
Eskdale  had  written  one  line  of  joyful  acceptance,  apologiz- 
ing for  bringing  Eliza  Douglas ;  but  adding,  that  she  was  a 
dear  good  girl,  and  the  idea  of  paying  Helen  a  visit  pleased 
her  so  much,  that  Lady  Eskdale  could  not  resist  bringing 
her,  if  Mrs.  Douglas  gave  the  consent  for  which  Eliza  had 
written  to  ask. 

As  I  consider  the  Douglas  papers  valuable,  not  only 
for  their  own  merits,  but  as  proofs  of  the  exact  truth  of 
this  history,  I  shall  make  use  of  some  of  Eliza's  letters. 

"  Dearest  Mother, 

"  I  do  not  know  what  you  will  say  to  it,  but  Lady 
Eskdale  desires  me  to  ask  if  you  have  any  objection  to 
my  going  to  St.  Mary's  with  her  and  Lord  Eskdale 
to-morrow?  I  hope  you  will  let  me  go.  Lord  Teviot 
asked  me  himself,  for  Lady  Eskdale  told  me  so ;  and  besides, 
my  name  was  in  his  letter,  which  was  lying  open  on 
the  breakfast  table,  so  I  could  not  help  seeing  it.  I  am 
very  happy  here,  though  rather  sleepy  in  the  evening, 
because  they  sit  up  so  late.  There  never  was  anything 
like  Lady  Eskdale's  kindness.  She  has  given  me  two 
beautiful  gowns  and  a  bracelet, — two  pomps  and  one 
vanity, — and  she  takes  such  care  of  me,  that  I  am  quite 
ashamed  of  never  feeling  ill ;  she  is  always  asking  how  I 
F  8i 


82  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

am.  I  write  in  such  haste,  that  I  have  not  time  for  more 
than  several  very  important  questions  which  I  want  you  to 
answer.  What  am  I  to  give  the  housemaids  here?  and 
do  you  object  to  my  reading  novels,  if  Lady  Eskdale  says 
there  is  no  harm  in  them?  They  look  very  tempting, 
particularly  one  called  Pride  and  Prejudice.  And  when  we 
go  to  St.  Mary's,  that  is,  if  you  let  me  go,  ought  not  I  to 
sit  backwards  in  the  carriage,  though  Lord  Eskdale  is  so 
civil,  he  will  be  sure  to  say  not?  I  play  to  him  every 
evening;  he  is  so  fond  of  music,  I  am  glad  I  can  play. 
Every  evening  he  says,  '  Now,  Miss  Douglas,  are  we  to  have 
a  little  harmony?  '  May  I  sing  to  him?  My  love  to 
papa,  and  I  wish  he  would  advance  me  my  next  quarter's 
allowance;  and  pray  tell  Sarah  my  work  is  turning  out 
beautiful,  and  that  gowns  are  still  worn  without  any 
trimming.  I  wish  she  would  hear  Susan  Dawson  her 
catechism  while  I  am  away,  else  she  will  be  sure  to  forget 
that  long  answer  to  '  What  is  thy  duty  to  thy  neighbour  ?  ' 
And  it  has  been  such  a  trouble  to  teach  it  to  her.  It  nearly 
wore  your  poor  little  Eliza  quite  out.  Lord  Beaufort  came 
last  night,  and  is  also  going  to  St.  Mary's. 
"  Ever,  dearest  mother, 

"  Your  dutiful  and  affectionate, 

"  Eliza  Douglas. 

*'  Please  mention  what  papa's  politics  are.  They  talk 
a  great  deal  about  government  and  opposition,  and  I  do 
not  know  which  I  am  for." 

Mrs.  Douglas's  answer  was  propitious;  and  she  was 
so  gratified  by  the  prospect  of  her  daughter's  amusement, 
that  she  assured  Mrs.  Birkett,  much  to  that  worthy  person's 
surprise,  that  Lady  Eskdale  was  one  of  the  most  warm- 
hearted, amiable  people  she  knew;  not  that  she  joined 
in  the  common  cant  about  warm  hearts  and  kind  dis- 
positions, because  she  happened  to  know  what  men  and 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  83 

women  really  were;  but  still  there  were  exceptions,  and 
from  long  intimacy  with  the  Eskdales,  she  was  able  to  say, 
etc.,  etc.  In  short,  she  evinced  a  spirit  of  benevolence  that 
took  poor  Mrs.  Birkett  quite  by  surprise,  and  spoiled  her 
visit.  She  had  come  armed  with  some  little  anti-Eskdale 
anecdotes,  and  with  a  small  supply  of  malevolence,  which 
would,  she  had  expected,  make  her  visit  unusually  accept- 
able, and  she  was  left  without  a  word  to  say  for  herself 


CHAPTER  XV 

Eliza  wrote  to  her  sister  immediately  after  her  arrival 
at  St.  Mary's  :— 

"  I  begin  my  letter  after  I  have  come  up  to  bed,  dearest 
Sarah,  for  there  is  so  much  to  say,  that  unless  I  write  at 
night,  I  never  shall  have  time  to  say  it  all.  This  is  such 
a  beautiful  place;  but  you  hate  descriptions,  and  so  do  I. 
We  arrived  an  hour  before  dinner,  and  met  Lord  and  Lady 
Teviot  at  the  first  lodge,  when  Lady  Eskdale  got  out,  and 
walked  home  with  them.  I  wish  you  could  have  seen  how 
pretty  and  happy  Helen  looked.  Lord  Eskdale  and  Lord 
Beaufort  arrived  just  after  we  did,  and  we  had  not  been 
half  an  hour  in  the  house  before  a  number  of  other  people 
came.  A  Colonel  Beaufort,  a  horrid  man,  like  that  Mr. 
Brown  we  used  to  call  Ape  Brown — though  Colonel 
Beaufort  is  very  good-looking — but  he  is  so  grand  and  con- 
ceited. Then,  there  are  two  Mr.  Sterlings  and  a  Sir 
Charles  de  Vere,  and  one  or  two  others,  and  at  last  there 
came  Lord  and  Lady  Portmore,  and  with  them  a  Miss 
Forrester,  a  great  friend  of  Helen's.  Don't  you  remember 
how  Mrs.  Duncombe  used  to  talk  of  her,  and  say  how 
clever  she  was,  and  that  she  was  going  to  be  married  to 
somebody,  I  forget  who,  who  liked  somebody  else?  I  do 
not  like  Lady  Portmore  at  all.  She  came  in  just  as  if  she 
were  mistress  of  the  house,  and  as  if  it  were  her  place  to 
receive  the  guests;  and  she  called  everybody  by  their 
names,  and  without  their  titles.  '  Oh !  Teviot,  why  did 
not  you  ask  Melmoth  to  meet  me  ?    So,  Beaufort,  you  are 

84 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  85 

here,  that  is  right.  Ernest '  (meaning  Colonel  Beaufort) , 
'  you  should  have  sent  to  my  house  before  you  set  off; 
I  wanted  you  to  bespeak  horses  for  me  on  the  road.  Well, 
now  we  must  go  and  dress,  it  is  almost  time  for  dinner. 
I  have  my  old  room,  I  suppose,  Teviot;  so,  dear  Helen, 
you  need  not  come  with  me,  I  am  quite  at  home,  so  stay 
where  you  are.  Who  is  that  with  your  mother?  '  '  Miss 
Douglas,'  Helen  said.  '  Oh,  Miss  Douglas,  rather  pretty, 
is  not  she?  '  Now  you  know,  Sarah,  that  I  am  not  vain, 
nor  perhaps  even  rather  pretty,  but  I  longed  to  say  '  Yes, 
quite  beautiful,'  just  to  quell  Lady  Portmore,  who  walked 
off,  saying,  '  Well,  good  people,  will  you  all  go  and  dress, 
I  hate  waiting  for  dinner.'  I  should  have  liked  to  put  it 
off  for  half  an  hour,  for  the  pleasure  of  thwarting  her, 
though  I  was  rather  hungry  myself.  I  have  such  a  pretty 
room,  with  a  dressing-room,  and  such  looking-glasses  and 
sofa  and  arm-chairs,  mamma  would  be  shocked.  Lady 
Eskdale  was  so  good  as  to  send  for  me  before  she  went  down- 
stairs, and  Lord  Beaufort  took  me  in  to  dinner,  so  I  was 
less  frightened  than  might  have  been  expected.  He  is  so 
good-natured,  I  am  not  at  all  afraid  of  him.  I  wore  my 
blue  gown.  This  is  such  a  magnificent  house.  How  I 
should  like  to  be  married  to  a  very  rich  man,  with  a  very 
fine  place ! 

"  Your  affectionate  sister, 

"  E.  Douglas.*' 

Helen  was  quite  happy  at  dinner,  with  her  father  on  one 
side  of  her,  and  Mary  Forrester  sitting  next  to  him,  and 
her  mother  nearly  opposite  to  her.  She  had  been  all  day 
preparing  for  the  arrival  of  her  family,  surveying  their 
rooms  again  and  again,  and  adorning  them  with  flowers. 
The  books  that  she  thought  would  amuse  them  were 
placed  on  their  tables.  The  claret  cup  which  Lord 
Eskdale  drank  after  dinner  had  been  ordered  and  tasted 


86  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

by  herself;  even  the  bill  of  fare,  which  was  usually  sub- 
mitted only  to  Lord  Teviot,  was  looked  over  by  her,  lest 
the  boiled  chicken  for  Lady  Eskdale,  and  the  potage  which 
Beaufort  liked  so  much,  should  have  been  omitted.  And 
now  they  were  all  there,  the  guests  and  their  comestibles,  and 
she  felt  at  home  again.  She  had  more  questions  to  ask 
her  father  about  Eskdale  Castle  than  he  could  possibly 
answer  during  one  dinner,  for  she  was  obliged  to  do  the 
honours  to  the  rest  of  the  company;  but  that  was  no 
trouble  to  her.  Her  eye  was  bright,  and  her  cheek  flushed 
with  happiness.  She  was  willing  to  laugh  at  every  joke, 
and  to  break  through  every  silence,  for  there  was  a  pleasant 
consciousness  about  her,  not  only  that  the  good  things  of 
life  were  collected  very  handsomely  and  becomingly 
around  her,  but  that  those  she  loved  best  were  with  her  to 
share  them. 

"  Upon  my  word.  Lady  Teviot,"  said  her  father  with  a 
gratified  smile,  as  the  ladies  rose  to  withdraw,  "  you  seem 
to  me  to  be  a  very  finished  specimen  of  the  lady  of  the 
house ;  that  little  head  will  be  turned,  and  my  littie  Helen 
will  be  spoiled." 

She  kissed  his  hand  as  she  moved  on,  but  the  gloomy 
look  with  which  Lord  Teviot  regarded  her  as  she  passed 
him  at  the  door  might  have  satisfied  Lord  Eskdale  that 
there  was  still  a  chance  that  his  daughter  would  not  be 
utterly  spoiled  by  unqualified  indulgence. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

It  was  a  beautiful  August  evening — a  real  summer's 
evening — and  the  ladies,  instead  of  betaking  themselves 
to  the  drawing-room,  strolled  out  on  the  lawn.  Helen, 
passing  her  arm  through  her  mother's,  contrived  to  draw 
her  away,  and  turned  into  the  shrubbery,  having  whispered 
to  Miss  Forrester  to  take  charge  of  the  others ;  and  Lady 
Portmore,  who  hated  walking,  sat  down  on  one  of  those 
wretched  gridirons  commonly  called  garden  chairs,  and 
desired  Mary  to  take  another.  Eliza  thought  she  should 
be  in  the  way,  and  was  quietly  withdrawing,  but  Lady 
Portmore,  who  had  seen  Lord  Beaufort  talking  and  laughing 
with  her,  and  had  heard  Lady  Eskdale  call  her  "  Dear 
Liz,"  thought  it  would  be  the  right  thing  to  make  much 
of  her. 

"My  dear  Miss  Douglas,  you  must  not  leave  us;  I 
foresee  that  you  and  I  shall  be  great  friends.  Pray  sit 
down  with  Mary  and  me.  Mary  is  one  of  my  dearest 
friends ;  and  you  must  not  be  afraid  of  her,  though  she  is  the 
cleverest  creature  in  the  world." 

"  There  is  one  of  the  prettiest  creatures  in  the  world," 
said  Mary,  waving  away  the  compliment  to  herself,  and 
pointing  to  Lady  Teviot's  receding  figure;  "and  there 
Miss  Douglas  will  agree  with  me,  I  see." 

"And  I,  I  am  sure,"  said  Lady  Portmore;  "in  fact, 
you  could  not  speak  to  anyone  who  is  such  an  authority 
on  the  subject  of  Helen's  beauty  as  I  am,  for  I  was  the 
very  first  person  who  discovered  it.  The  night  she  came 
out  at  H.  House,  just  as  she  entered  the  room,  so  that 

87 


88  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

nobody  else  could  have  seen  her,  I  said  to  the  Duke,  *  There 
is  the  prettiest  girl  that  has  appeared  this  year  ' ;  and  I 
remember  turning  round  and  instantly  saying  to  Count 
Czernischeffski,  the  man  with  the  scar,  you  know — Princess 
Saldovitch's  hero — Voild,  M.  le  Comte,  une  jolie  debutante; 
and  after  that,  all  the  world,  English  and  foreign,  raved 
about  her  beauty.     I  really  set  that  fashion." 

"  I  suppose,"  said  Mary,  "  that  when  she  appears  next 
year  as  Lady  Teviot — that  is,  if  she  does  appear " 

"How  do  you  mean,  my  love?  What  is  to  prevent 
her  appearing?  " 

"  Nothing  but  her  own  good  will  and  pleasure,"  said 
Mary,  laughing:  "  it  is  a  foolish  expression;  but  I  meant 
to  say  that  I  hope  Helen  will  not  adopt  the  reigning  fashion 
of  young  married  women,  and  lead  a  life  of  balls  and 
parties.     I  think  she  will  be  a  stay-at-home  wife." 

"  I  don't  understand,"  said  Lady  Portmore,  fussily; 
"  if  she  stays  at  home,  what  becomes  of  her  position,  and 
her  rank,  and  Teviot  House?  And  you  forget  her  dia- 
monds. But  that  is  the  way  with  you  clever  people ;  you 
so  often  overlook  the  important  point  which  we  silly  ones 
remember.  If  she  shuts  herself  up,  what  is  the  use  of  her 
having  married  Teviot?  " 

"But  she  liked  him,  did  she  not?"  said  Eliza,  who 
looked  aghast  at  Lady  Portmore's  reasoning — or  rather 
calculation — for  reasoning  was  not  Lady  Portmore's 
strong  point.  "  I  think  if  I  were  married  to  anybody  I 
liked,  I  should  prefer  staying  at  home  with  him  to  going  to 
a  ball." 

"You  dear  little  romantic  thing;  now  that  is  so  like 
me !  I  foresaw  we  should  suit  each  other  exactly.  There 
is  nothing  equal  to  the  comfort  of  a  long  evening  at  home 
for  the  husband  and  wife;  but  then,  you  know,  other 
people  must  be  considered — the  people  who  invite  one  to 
their  houses — and  one  must  go,  for  fear  of  not  being  asked 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  89 

again ;  and  that  is  the  rock  on  which  my  domestic  happiness 
splits." 

There  was  a  pause  while  Lady  Portmore  mused  sadly 
upon  this  shipwreck  of  her  domestic  felicity ;  and  then  the 
conversation  began  again  with  the  Teviots. 

"  Did  Helen's  marriage  take  you  by  surprise,  Mary?  " 

"  I  could  not  be  surprised  at  any  amount  of  admiration 
that  Helen  might  excite;  but  I  was  in  the  country  at  the 
time,  and  I  had  heard  very  little  of  Lord  Teviot.  It  was  a 
short  romance,  you  know?  " 

"  My  dear  Mary,  there  is  nobody  who  knows  so  much 
about  it  as  I  do.  Miss  Douglas  will  think  me  very  vain,  but 
as  she  does  not  know  me,  I  must  just  let  her  a  little  into  the 
secret  of  my  character.  She  will  say  I  am  frank,  too  frank 
perhaps ;  but  the  fact  is,  as  all  the  world  knows,  that  before 
his  marriage  Teviot  almost  lived  at  my  house.  It  was 
his  home,  literally  his  home.  He  is  the  most  warm-hearted 
creature  on  earth,  and  chose  to  take  a  great  fancy  to  me. 
Why,  I  am  sure  I  can't  guess;  but  he  was  on  that  footing 
at  my  house  that  my  own  brother  might  have  been.  It  was 
the  sort  of  thing  that  the  world  might  have  talked  of;  and 
I  never  know  how  I  escaped  all  sorts  of  ill-natured  remarks. 
In  fact,  but  this  is  between  ourselves,  I  did  say  to  Lord 
Portmore,  '  If  you  think  Teviot  had  better  not  come  so 
much  to  our  house,  only  tell  me  so,  and  I  will  contrive 
that  he  shall  not  dine  here  so  constantly — and  yet  there 
shall  be  no  scene,  no  esclandre.'  I  thought  this  right;  don't 
you  agree  with  me?  " 

"  And  what  did  Lord  Portmore  say?  "  said  Eliza,  who 
was  listening  in  breathless  delight  to  what  she  thought  a 
very  odd  and  slightly  improper  story. 

"  Oh !  it  was  a  most  gratifying  answer  to  me.  He  said 
he  had  not  the  smallest  objection  to  Teviot's  dining  with 
us  as  often  as  he  liked,  and  that  he  saw  no  opening  for  any 
scene,  and  no  necessity  for  any  explanation  ;   in  short,  he 


go  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

evidently  placed  the  greatest  confidence  in  me.  This  was 
in  June,  and  there  were  constant  fetes  at  Teviot  House  and 
the  Villa;  and  I  was  rather  annoyed  by  the  notion  that 
the  world  would  say  they  were  given  for  me.  And  one 
day,  I  remember  it  as  well  as  possible,  it  was  at  a  breakfast 
at  the  Villa,  I  said  to  my  friend  Mrs.  Hanbury,  '  I  charge 
you,  Cecilia,  if  you  hear  any  ill-natured  comments  made 
on  my  being  at  all  these  fetes,  that  you  will  give  me  warning 
in  time.  I  can  tell  Teviot  they  had  better  be  given  up.' 
And  she  said  in  her  odd  way,  '  Why,  my  dear,  what  do  you 
mean?  Don't  you  know  that  he  is  desperately  in  love 
with  Helen  Beaufort  ?  I  believe  he  has  proposed ;  if  not, 
for  mercy's  sake  say  nothing  to  him,  or  you  may  do  mischief.' 
I  do  mischief!  I !  who  am  the  last  person  in  the  world  to 
think  of  such  a  thing.  I  went  to  Teviot  directly,  and  said, 
'  My  dear  Teviot,  tell  me  the  truth.  The  world  says  you 
are  in  love  with  Helen.  Are  you  quite  sure  of  your  own 
feelings  ?  Will  she  suit  you  ?  '  and  so  on,  exactly  what  his 
own  sister  might  have  said  to  him.  And  I  am  as  much 
convinced  as  if  it  were  told  me  by  an  angel  from  heaven 
that  I  made  that  marriage,  for  he  proposed  the  next  day, 
the  very  next  day.  I  suspect  he  had  been  a  little  piqued 
by  my  easy  way  of  talking  of  it,  for  when  he  came  to  tell 
me  it  was  settled,  I  never  saw  a  creature  in  such  a  state 
of  agitation.  It  was  a  very  hot  day,  and  he  asked  directly 
for  a  glass  of  iced  water,  which  shows  how  nervous  he  was. 
I  took  my  line  at  once,  and  wished  him  joy,  and  said  that 
I  would  call  on  Helen,  and  that  I  was  much  flattered  that 
he  had  put  me  in  his  confidence  the  day  before ;  and  then 
he  grew  calmer.  But  he  laughed  and  talked  a  great  deal, 
and  was  certainly  very  much  excited,  and  hurried  away 
again,  so  unlike  him.  After  that  I  saw  him  but  littie; 
indeed,  I  kept  out  of  his  way,  as  I  guessed  the  Eskdales 
would  wish  to  keep  him  to  themselves;  but  as  soon  as  he 
was  married,  I  was  so  anxious  for  his  sake  and  Helen's 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  91 

that  there  should  be  no  awkwardness,  no  coohiess  between 
us,  that  I  offered  to  come  here — actually  offered  myself — 
and  you  saw  how  well  the  meeting  went  off." 

"Perfectly,"  said  Mary;  "nothing  could  be  more 
commonplace — more  easy,  I  mean." 

Lady  Portmore  did  not  look  as  if  she  quite  liked  the 
answer,  and  was  on  the  point  of  turning  to  Eliza  to  extract 
a  more  flattering  opinion,  when  the  gentlemen  appeared, 
and  her  thoughts  took  a  new  direction. 

Lord  Teviot  looked  round  as  he  came  out  on  the  lawn, 
and  seemed  to  miss  someone,  though  he  asked  no  questions ; 
but  Lord  Beaufort  said  immediately,  "Where's  Helen? 
Miss  Douglas,  have  you  a  mind  to  come  and  look  for  her? 
I  saw  her  and  my  mother  go  up  that  walk." 

"  I  should  like  to  go,"  said  Eliza,  "  but " 

"  Oh  dear!  yes,  we  want  a  chaperon,  I  forgot,"  said 
Lord  Beaufort;  "perhaps  my  respected  father  will  have 
the  kindness  to  act  ruffian  to  us  babes  in  the  wood." 

"  Not  I,"  said  Lord  Eskdale ;  "  I  can't  stir  a  step  without 
my  coffee;  but  there  are  your  mother  and  sister  in  sight, 
at  the  end  of  that  avenue,  so  you  may  go  in  all  propriety  and 
join  them." 

"  Will  you  come.  Miss  Forrester?  "  said  Eliza. 

"  Now,  Miss  Douglas,"  said  Lord  Beaufort,  "  let  us  be 
off,  or  they  will  be  here,  and  our  excessive  attention  in 
going  to  look  for  them  will  not  be  appreciated.  Don't 
ask  that  Miss  Forrester  to  come,"  he  added,  as  they  walked 
away,  "  I  can't  abide  her." 

"Oh!  why  not,  Lord  Beaufort?  I  like  her  looks  so 
much." 

"  Her  looks  then  are  deceitful  above  all  things.  I  am 
not  going  to  add  that  she  is  desperately  wicked;  but 
she  affects  to  be  desperately  good,  which  is  nearly  as  bad." 

"  I  dare  say  it  is  not  affectation.  Why  should  she  not 
be  really  good?     Now,  Lord  Beaufort,  what  right  have 


92  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

you  to  judge  of  either  real  or  affected  goodness  ?  "  she 
added,  laughing. 

"  That  right,  Miss  Douglas,  which  lookers-on  assume 
of  knowing  most  of  the  game ;  and  as  for  Miss  Forrester's 
game,  I  admire  neither  it  nor  the  way  in  which  she  has 
played  it.  Neither  do  I  admire  her,  and  let  me  advise 
you  not  to  be  taken  in  by  her,  as  Helen  is." 

"  I  am  afraid  your  advice  will  be  thrown  away.  I  feel 
frightfully  tempted  to  like  her.  I  like  everybody,  except 
Lady  Portmore,  by  the  by.  I  am  very  willing  to  dislike 
her,  if  that  will  satisfy  you." 

"  Ah  !  poor  Lady  Portmore,  all  women  hate  her.  I 
wonder  why  ?  but  we  have  not  time  to  discuss  her  now. 
Well,  Helen,  my  beauty,  we  are  come  to  conduct  you  and 
our  well-beloved  mother  to  coffee.  Have  you  finished 
your  confidential  communication?  and  can  you  listen 
to  a  few  original  remarks  in  the  Repton  line,  which  Miss 
Douglas  and  I  are  prepared  to  make  on  St.  Mary's?  " 

"  Is  it  not  pretty,  Eliza?  " 

"  More  than  pretty — beautiful.  Oh  !  Helen,  how  happy 
you  must  be  here  !  " 

"  So  I  have  been  telling  mamma,"  answered  Helen,  with 
a  faint  smile;  "  and  she  has  been  making  me  jealous  of 
you.  You  are  creeping  into  my  place.  She  says  you 
take  such  care  of  her." 

"  I  should  be  very  ungrateful  if  I  did  not,"  said  Eliza, 
gliding  round  to  Lady  Eskdale's  side,  and  pressing  her  hand. 

"  No  sentiment,  dear  Liz,"  said  Lady  Eskdale,  "  for 
we  must  all  put  on  our  company  faces  and  company 
manners  now." 

They  joined  the  rest  of  the  circle,  and  found  Lady 
Portmore  proving  to  Lord  Eskdale  that  she  had  brought 
about  most  of  the  political  changes  of  the  past  year :  and 
that  she  knew  beforehand  all  that  were  likely  to  take  place 
in  the  ensuing  one.  ^ 


CHAPTER   XVII 

"  What  will  you  all  like  to  do  to-day?  "  said  Helen  one 
morning  after  breakfast,  "  drive?  or  ride?  or  stay  at 
home?  or  go  to  Langley  ruins?  Lady  Portmore,  what  is 
your  good  will  and  pleasure  ?  " 

"  I  hardly  know,"  she  said,  with  an  air  of  mystery. 
"  Let  me  have  a  little  talk  with  you  in  your  dressing-room ; 
a  real  comfortable  chat,  before  I  decide." 

"  Good  heavens,  how  inhuman  !  "  said  Ernest  Beaufort, 
who  was  lolling  on  a  sofa,  supported  by  countless  cushions, 
and  reading  the  paper;  "  you  are  not  going  to  make  that 
guiltless  Helen  endure  the  agony  of  a  regular  talk  at  this 
early  hour  of  this  broiling  day.  Besides,  what  is  there  to 
talk  about?  " 

"  A  thousand  things.  I  have  not  seen  Helen  for  ages; 
and  we  have  so  much  to  hear  and  to  say." 

"  And  are  you.  Lady  Portmore,"  he  said,  giving  the 
cushion  that  supported  his  back  a  languid  push,  "  are  you 
still  going  on  with  all  that  old  humbug  of  being  glad  to 
see  people,  and  of  having  something  to  say  to  them?  Has 
not  everything  been  said  forty  times  over?  and  is  not  any 
one  individual  quite  as  good  as  another?  " 

"  Now  that  is  so  like  you,  Ernest.  How  odd  your 
theories  are ;  and  yet  how  true  !  I  said  myself  the  other 
day,  that  one  never  hears  anything  new  till  it  is  old ;  and 
Cracroft  the  poet,  who  was  sitting  with  me,  laughed  very 
much  at  the  originality  of  the  idea.  You  and  I  think  so 
exactly  alike,  Ernest." 

"  Perhaps   then,   Lady  Portmore,   you  are  thinking  of 

93 


94  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

picking  up  the  supplement  of  the  Times,  which  I  have  had 
the  misfortune  to  drop.  In  the  similarity  of  our  dis- 
positions we  are  probably  of  opinion  that  it  ought  to  be 
picked  up  by  one  of  us." 

"  Now  that  is  too  bad.  Oh,  Miss  Douglas,"  she  said, 
as  Eliza  stooped  for  it,  "  you  are  spoiling  that  wretch !  " 

"  Miss  Douglas,  the  wretch  thanks  you;  your  attentions 
to  me  in  my  old  age  do  you  infinite  credit.  When  I  was  as 
young  as  you,  a  period  which  my  enfeebled  memory  can 
scarcely  recall,  I  doubt  whether  I  was  equally  mindful  of 
the  infirmities  of  the  old." 

"  And  what  may  be  your  age?  "  said  Lady  Portmore. 

"It  is  a  painful  subject.  You  have  probably  observed 
this  morning  that  I  am  unusually  grave  and  meditative. 
To-day  is  one  of  those  eternal  birthdays  of  mine  which  are 
always  coming  round,  and  with  shame  I  avow  that  for 
six-and-twenty  years  I  have  now  existed  in  this  very  tiresome 
world,  bored  and  boring.  Now  don't  all  begin  to  wish  me 
many  happy  birthdays.  I  am  tired  of  good  wishes.  If  you 
like  to  make  me  any  presents,  you  may ;  but  I  am  tired  of 
things  too — so  do  not  give  yourselves  any  trouble.  I  am 
twenty-six,  and  can't  help  myself" 

"  Oh!  we  must  leave  him,  Helen,  he  is  really  too  odd. 
Come  and  show  me  your  boudoir." 

"  Directly,"  said  Helen.  "  Teviot,  as  you  and  Beaufort 
are  going  to  the  stables,  will  you  order  the  open  carriage 
for  mamma?  and  the  pony  phaeton  will  be  wanted.  Shall 
I  ride  with  you?  "  she  said,  timidly. 

"  Your  attention,  my  dear,  is  most  gratifying,  but  as  you 
know  that  the  Smiths,  Beaufort,  and  I  agreed  to  have  our 
first  shot  at  the  partridges  to-day,  your  obliging  offer  is 
made  in  all  safety." 

"  I  am  glad  you  will  be  so  well  employed,"  answered 
Helen,  speaking  as  unconcernedly  as  she  could,  for  she 
saw  Mary  looking  inquiringly  at  her.     "  Then  I  will  make 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  95 

my  own  arrangements,  as  I  am  discarded  by  you.  Mary, 
you  have  brought  your  habit,  of  course,  and  there  is  a 
charming  horse  which  Teviot  provided  for  me;  but  papa 
has  given  me  my  old  favourite,  so  we  will  ride  after  luncheon. 
Now  for  Lady  Portmore.  Shall  I  get  ofT  under  an  hour 
of  confidences?  " 

Mary  shook  her  head,  and  the  party  dispersed  in  various 
directions. 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

The  library  at  St.  Mary's  was  of  a  high,  old-fashioned 
form,  and  within  it  was  a  small  flight  of  steps  which  led  to 
a  light  gallery  built  round  three  sides  of  the  room,  giving 
thus  an  easy  access  to  the  higher  shelves  of  books.  The 
room  itself  was  full  of  odd,  deep  recesses,  and  was  altogether 
a  dangerous  style  of  apartment,  for  the  occupants  of  the 
gallery  were  not  necessarily  visible  to  the  occupants  of  the 
room,  so  that  if  any  two  conversable  guests  were  inclined 
to  discuss  the  character  of  a  third,  there  was  a  very  reason- 
able probability  that  their  conversation  might  be  over- 
heard by  the  party  most  concerned.  Mary  Forrester 
had  entered  this  gallery  from  a  door  above,  and  was 
standing  in  one  of  the  recesses,  with  a  book  under  her  arm, 
which  she  meant  to  take  to  her  room,  and  another  in  her 
hand,  which  she  read  as  she  stood.  And  while  she  was 
thus  occupied.  Lord  Beaufort  and  his  cousin  came  into 
the  room  below.  "  We  can  get  out  through  that  window," 
said  Lord  Beaufort. 

"  Oh !  then  I  need  not  announce  myself,"  thought 
Mary. 

"Why,  so  we  can;  but  won't  it  be  a  great  deal  of 
trouble?  I  wish,  Beaufort,  you  would  tell  me  why  you 
hate  her,  before  you  drag  me  any  further." 

Again  Miss  Forrester  was  on  the  point  of  saying,  "  I  am 
here,"  when  a  name  that  had  the  power  to  arrest  her  at 
any  moment  drove  her  back. 

"Why,  on  that  poor  Reginald  Stuart's  account:  she 
led  that  man  on  to  attach  himself  to  her  in  the  days  of  his 

96 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  97 

prosperity,  and  threw  him  over  the  moment  his  Httle 
money  peccadillos  came  to  light." 

"  That's  bad,"  said  Ernest;  "  but  I  dare  say  they  were 
dead  tired  of  each  other.  It  is  so  difficult  to  go  on  liking 
the  same  person  for  ever  and  ever ;  and  besides,  as  Reginald 
was  ruined,  they  could  not  have  lived  on  air." 

"  No,  but  she  had  had  a  large  fortune  left  her,  and  jilted 
him  just  when  she  might  have  helped  him;  and  that  is 
what  people  call  a  saint.  And  there  is  that  unfortunate 
Stuart  getting  into  no  end  of  scrapes,  for  he  has  become 
reckless,  and  will  be  thoroughly  dished." 

Mary  could  stay  no  longer.  As  quietly  as  she  could, 
she  glided  to  the  gallery  door,  and,  certain  that  she  could 
not  be  recognised,  allowed  herself  the  natural  solace  of 
letting  it  fall  with  a  slight  tendency  to  a  bang,  and  rushed 
along  the  passage  to  her  own  room.  The  sound  of  the 
closing  door  made  the  two  gentlemen  start.  '*  Who's 
there?  "  said  Lord  Beaufort  in  a  very  guilty  voice.  "  Is 
there  anybody  just  come  into  that  gallery?  "  he  added,  as 
the  silence  continued. 

"  Nobody  just  come  in,  but  somebody  just  gone  out," 
said  Ernest,  drily.  "  If  it  were  Miss  Forrester,  you  are 
about  as  much  dished  as  Stuart.  My  chief  merit  happily 
is  that  I  am  a  good  listener  " ;  and  he  sauntered  on  to  the 
anteroom. 

Lord  Beaufort  rushed  up  the  steps,  still  with  a  vague 
hope  of  finding  a  deaf  librarian,  or  a  dusting  housemaid ; 
but  no,  there  was  nothing  but  a  handkerchief,  and  on  one 
of  its  corners  an  intricate  arrangement  of  forget-me-nots 
and  roses  represented  to  an  acute  decipherer  the  word 
"  Mary."  Lord  Beaufort  laid  it  down  again  as  if  it  were 
made  of  glass,  walked  down  the  steps  as  if  he  were  treading 
on  ice,  and,  following  Ernest,  whispered  to  him,  "  We 
never  must  open  our  lips  again  in  that  confounded  room." 

Mary,  on  her  part,  was  promising  to  herself  never  again 
o 


98  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

to  fetch  a  book  from  that  same  unlucky  apartment.  She 
would  never  enter  that  gallery  again.  She  would  never 
speak  to  Lord  Beaufort  as  long  as  she  lived;  or  per- 
haps she  had  better  annoy  him  by  talking  to  and  at  him 
constantly,  though  she  was  not  quite  sure  whether  she 
would  not  leave  St.  Mary's  at  once.  But  she  would  tell 
Helen  to  explain  to  him  all  the  Stuart  history,  and  then 
crush  him  by  the  most  lofty  contempt — not  that  she  cared 
what  he  said  or  thought,  in  fact  she  rather  enjoyed  his 
malice ;  and  then  she  burst  into  a  violent  fit  of  crying,  and 
found  she  had  dropped  her  handkerchief.  There  is  nothing 
like  a  good  handsome  flood  of  tears  when  these  atrocious 
attacks  on  our  good  name  or  good  looks  are  detected.  The 
whirl  of  resentful  thoughts,  the  angry  resolves,  the  crimson 
cheeks,  the  burning  eyes,  the  swelling  heart,  and  the 
twitching  fingers — all  these  moral  and  physical  symptoms 
of  injured  innocence  are  instantly  alleviated  by  a  hearty 
cry.  Mary  felt  better  directly,  and  then  she  began  to  look 
at  her  mortification  rationally,  and  not  passionately.  She 
still  thought  Lord  Beaufort  very  unjust,  because  she  had 
really  behaved  so  uncommonly  well;  she  had  taken  such 
pains  to  do  what  was  right  in  that  business ;  but  she  began 
to  see  how  her  conduct  might  have  been  so  represented  as 
to  take  a  selfish  colouring;  and  then  the  recollection  of 
Lord  Beaufort's  hatred  of  her  as  a  saint  made  her  smile  as 
she  thought  of  the  fit  of  temper  to  which  she  had  just  given 
way.  "  Oh!  that  I  were  one,"  she  said,  "  in  the  genuine 
sense  of  the  word  !  "  and,  in  pursuing  that  train  of  thought, 
the  momentary  mortification  she  had  suffered  sank  to  its 
proper  dimensions.  Better  feelings  resumed  their  sway, 
and  though  she  ended  by  thinking  it  a  great  pity  that  Helen 
should  have  such  a  detestable  brother,  and  should  live  in 
a  house  that  contained  such  an  absurd  room  as  a  library 
with  a  gallery,  yet  she  thought  there  was  no  necessity  for 
leaving  St.  Mary's;    that  Lord  Beaufort  might  have  some 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  99 

good  qualities,  though  she  could  not  guess  what  they  were ; 
and  that  Ernest,  who  was  at  first  involved  in  his  cousin's 
disgrace,  was  not  to  be  treated  as  a  criminal  at  all.  By 
degrees  she  began  to  see  that  it  was  for  her  good  that  her 
vanity  had  met  with  such  a  check ;  her  natural  good  temper 
and  her  acquired  humility  helped  each  other,  and  when 
she  joined  the  rest  of  the  party  at  luncheon  she  was  almost 
as  cheerful  and  as  benevolent  as  she  was  when  she  left 
them  after  breakfast. 

Helen's  morning  had  not  been  passed  much  more 
prosperously.  Lady  Portmore  had  talked  unceasingly 
for  an  hour  and  a  half;  and  though  from  the  vague  diffusive- 
ness of  her  words,  and  the  hopeless  entanglement  of  her 
ideas,  it  was  difficult  to  ascertain  the  precise  purport  of  her 
remarks,  Helen  felt  that  the  general  result  was  irritating, 
though  she  hardly  knew  why.  She  had  not  the  remotest  idea 
what  Lady  Portmore  meant  to  convey  when  she  said — 

"  Dearest  Helen,  you  will  be  candid  with  me.  You  will 
understand  me  when  I  implore  you  to  tell  me  frankly  if 
you  think  my  visit  likely  to  do  harm.  Helen,  you  know 
my  heart;   you  may  trust  me — say,  am  I  welcome?  " 

"  Dear  Lady  Portmore,  why  should  you  doubt  it?  Of 
course  I  am  delighted  to  see  you,  and  so  is  Teviot;  and  as 
you  have  asked  your  own  party,  I  hope  you  will  be  amused.'* 

"  Helen,  you  are  a  noble  creature;  I  see  you  understand 
me." 

Helen  felt  thoroughly  puzzled,  but  tried  hard  for  a  look 
of  intelligence,  so  that  she  might  escape  a  long  explanation. 

"  We  shall  be  friends — we  are  friends;  and  as  a  proof 
of  confidence,  before  I  say  anything  further  on  the  subject 
which  is  at  this  moment  uppermost  in  both  our  hearts," 
("  I  wonder  what  it  is,"  thought  Helen),  "  I  will  ask  your 
advice  on  a  point  that  more  immediately  concerns  myself. 
It  is  a  difficult  case  to  explain,  Helen;  cannot  you  guess 
what  I  mean?  " 


100  THE   SEMI- ATTACHED   COUPLE 

"  No,  indeed,  I  cannot  imagine  the  point  on  which  I 
should  be  capable  of  advising  you." 

*'  Oh,  what  a  relief!  I  was  afraid  you  were  condemning 
me  all  this  time;  that  you  thought  it  so  strange  I  had  let 
him  come." 

"  Let  who  come,  where  ?  "  said  Helen.  "  Pray  remember 
the  seclusion  in  which  we  have  been  living ;  and  have  pity 
on  my  ignorance." 

*'  Oh,  yes !  I  forgot,  you  lost  all  the  end  of  last  season ; 
but  you  must  have  heard — in  fact,  you  must  have  seen 
yesterday,  how  it  was — Ernest  !  Helen,  do  you  think  that 
I  was  wrong  in  asking  him  to  come  here?  " 

"  Certainly  not;    we  always  expected  him  this  week. 

He  had  promised  to  come  when " 

"Yes,  yes;  but,  my  love,  you  must  know  (this  is  of 
course  in  the  strictest  confidence) ;  but  you  must  see  that 
Ernest  is  desperately  smitten  with  me.  It  is  almost 
ludicrous ;  for  he  is  not  the  sort  of  person  from  whom  I 
should  look  for  sentiment;  but  he  has  been  too  absurd. 
I  had  really  been  completely  blind  to  the  whole  thing,  till 
one  day  at  my  house,  your  brother  said  to  me,  with  one  of 
his  meaning  looks,  *  If  I  want  to  find  Ernest,  Lady  Portmore, 
I  always  come  here.'  I  caught  his  eye ;  I  felt  myself  colour 
to  my  finger-ends ;  and  I  instantly  guessed  what  the  world 
was  saying,  and  what  was  the  warning  Beaufort  intended 
to  convey.  I  shall  always  feel  obliged  to  him  for  the 
candour  and  courage  with  which  he  put  me  on  my  guard. 
How  he  came  to  be  so  very  clear  sighted  it  is  not  for  me  to 
guess.  I  was  rather  puzzled  what  to  do,  for,  Helen,  you 
and  I  have,  I  know,  the  same  high  ideas  of  a  wife's  duty — 
and  I  really  hate  scenes ;  but  it  is  so  difficult  to  make  that 
strange  creature,  Ernest,  understand  hints.  He  made  the 
most  absurd  excuses  for  calling:  the  streets  were  so  hot, 
or  he  wanted  luncheon,  or  dinner ;  and  if  I  looked  grave, 
he  affected  to  be  bored,  or  to  fall  asleep.    At  last  I  thought 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUP1.E  iqi 

of  coming  here ;  and  I  said  honesily  ic  hiiJl,  :*  No>a^,  Ernest, 
I  positively  forbid  your  following  me  to  St.  Mary's'.  And 
what  do  you  think  was  his  answer?  '  My  dear  lady,  there 
is  nothing  I  should  dislike  so  much  as  following  you;  the 
roads  are  so  dusty,  I  should  be  smothered;  so  I  will  go 
before  you.'  " 

"  How  like  Ernest!  "  said  Helen.  "  However,  that  does 
not  sound  very  sentimental." 

*'  But,  my  dear,  if  you  had  seen  his  look — I  know  Ernest's 
looks  so  well.  You  do  not  understand  your  cousin,  Helen ; 
but  I  must  teach  you  to  know  each  other  thoroughly.  You 
will  like  him." 

"  Like  Ernest !  why,  my  dear  Lady  Portmore,  I  have 
known  him  and  liked  him  all  my  life.  He  was  brought 
up  at  Eskdale  Castle.  I  think  I  told  you  so  when  I  intro- 
duced him  to  you  in  London." 

"Ah,  true!  but  he  is  so  reserved;  and  yet  there  is  a 
good  deal  under  that  dry  manner  that  I  am  sure  you  will 
like,"  said  Lady  Portmore,  who  invariably  claimed  a  right 
to  be  the  first  and  only  friend  of  all  her  acquaintances.  "  It 
would  have  been  fooHsh,  don't  you  think  it  would,  if  I  had 
put  off  our  visit  when  I  found  that  Ernest  had  contrived 
to  include  himself  in  the  party  ?  I  think  apparent  uncon- 
sciousness is  the  most  dignified  line  to  take,  don't  you?  You 
see,  Helen,  what  confidence  I  have  in  your  judgment." 

"  You  are  very  good ;  I  am  sure  you  will  do  what  is  right." 

"  No  speeches,  my  love.  Thank  you  for  your  attention 
and  advice;  you  have  put  me  quite  at  my  ease;  and  you 
must  not  think  ill  of  poor  Ernest  from  what  I  have  told 
you ;  he  is  an  excellent  creature,  you  may  take  my  word  for 
it.  And  now,  my  dear,  talk  to  me  about  yourself:  are 
you  quite  happy,  Helen?  " 

"  What  a  question  !  dear  Lady  Portmore,"  said  Helen, 
affecting  to  laugh;  '*  you  must  really  find  out  the  answer 
for  yourself." 


102  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

;  ■*:^  JAiY  Jove,  cJq  i>ot  iiisunderstand  me;  I  see,"  she  added, 
looking  round  with  rather  a  vexed  air,  "  that  you  have  all 
the  luxuries  of  life  in  profusion ;  but  I  am  sure  that  you 
are  like  me,  and  do  not  care  for  those  kind  of  things,  and 
that  Teviot's  feelings " 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  I  care  very  much  for  the  luxuries 
of  life,"  said  Helen,  determined  to  pursue  that  safe  subject. 
"It  is  a  real  pleasure  to  me  to  look  round  and  see  the 
absolute  perfection  of  my  room ;  and  besides,  most  of  my 
pretty  things  are  gifts,  and  I  love  them  for  the  sake  of  the 
givers.  Do  look  at  this  beautiful  gold  dressing  service, 
which  Teviot  gave  me  on  our  wedding-day." 

**  Ah,  very  handsome,  beautiful !  Lord  Portmore  wanted 
to  give  me  just  the  same  set ;  at  least  I  told  him  of  one  I 
had  seen,  and  he  would  have  given  it  to  me,  only  he 
thought  it  would  be  useless ;   but  to  return  to  Lord  Teviot." 

"  But  just  look  first  at  my  sapphires;  I  have  heard  you 
admire  sapphires." 

"Yes,  so  I  do  in  the  abstract;  the  blue  is  beautiful, 
and  Lord  Portmore  would  have  given  me  a  set  if  I  had 
wished  for  them;  but  don't  you  think — not  that  I  wish 
to  put  you  out  of  conceit  of  your  stones — but  don't  you 
think  they  are  less  becoming  than  rubies?  " 

"  Do  you  think  so?  "  said  Helen,  raising  the  tray  on 
which  they  were  placed.  "  I  suppose  papa  agrees  with 
you,  for  he  gave  me  these ;  but  Teviot  and  I  like  the  others 
best." 

"You  agree  in  that  then.  Ah!  similarity  of  tastes, 
even  in  trifles,  is  a  blessing;  but  now,  my  love,  shut  that 
box,  and  let  us  talk  rationally.  I  know  Teviot  so  well  that 
I  am  sure  I  can  give  you  some  useful  hints." 

"  Do  you  think  this  miniature  on  my  watch  is  like  him?  " 

"Yes,  very  like;  I  have  seen  it  before,"  said  Lady 
Portmore,  impatiently.  "  Of  course  I  know  all  about  it; 
I  recommended  Holmes  to  Teviot.     But  it  is  of  himself, 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  103 

and  not  of  his  picture,  that  I  wish  to  speak ;  for  though 
you  seem  to  fly  from  the  subject,  let  me  tell  you.  Lady 
Teviot " 

"  Nothing  of  my  husband,  Lady  Portmore,"  said  Helen, 
firmly.  "  Mamma  told  me  that  married  people  were 
never,  under  any  circumstances,  to  make  each  other  the 
subjects  of  discussion  or  comment ;  so  tell  me  nothing  of 
Lord  Teviot." 

Lady  Portmore  was  completely  defeated,  and  it  seemed 
to  her  quite  marvellous  that  such  a  child  as  Helen  should 
presume  to  withstand  and  baffle  her.  But  even  she  could 
not  renew  a  conversation  so  pointedly  interrupted,  and 
after  settling  her  plans  for  the  afternoon,  and  advising 
Helen  to  have  her  sapphires  reset  with  more  diamonds,  she 
left  the  room,  saying  as  she  passed — 

"  Now,  my  love,  you  are  not  angry  with  me.  I  quite 
agree  with  you  that  we  wives  should  say  nothing  and  hear 
nothing  about  our  husbands.  I  should  fire  up  just  as  you  did 
if  anyone  spoke  to  me  about  Portmore ;  but  I  know  Teviot 
so  well,  and  am  so  aware  of  all  the  little  shades  of  his 
character  on  which  everything  depends " 

"Yes,  yes;  but  I  mean  to  see  nothing  but  lights — no 
shades ;   and  so  good-bye,  luncheon  will  be  ready  at  two." 

"  Ah !  you  are  very  discreet,  but  I  respect  you  for  it  " ; 
and  she  walked  off  rather  mortified,  while  Helen  soothed 
herself  by  repairing  to  her  mother's  room  for  the  rest  of 
the  morning ;  but  she  first  threw  her  windows  wide  open, 
having  a  vague  idea  that  nothing  short  of  a  thorough 
draught  could  drive  Lady  Portmore's  conversation 
thoroughly  out  of  the  room. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

The  gentlemen  all  dropped  in  to  luncheon,  beginning 
by  wondering  how  people  could  eat  at  that  time  of  day, 
and  ending  by  seating  themselves  and  enjoying  a  good  hot 
dinner.  Beaufort  came  in  last,  with  a  very  guilty  counte- 
nance ;  but  Miss  Forrester  was  talking  to  Sir  Charles  Smith, 
and  showed  no  sign  of  mortification  or  pique.  He  began 
to  dislike  her  more  than  ever.  The  walk  with  the  game- 
keepers was  apparently  given  up,  as  Lady  Portmore  was 
imparting  to  Ernest  in  an  apologetic  tone  that  Teviot 
insisted  on  driving  her  in  the  phaeton. 

"  And  what  vehicle  is  ordered  for  me,  and  who  is  to  drive 
me?  "  said  Ernest,  languidly.  "  Helen,  will  you  take  a 
little  more  care  of  the  rest  of  your  guests  ?  " 

"  You  may  ride  with  all  of  us — Mary,  papa,  and  Beau- 
fort, and  me.  Sir  Charles  goes  with  mamma  and  Eliza 
in  the  britzska,  and  we  are  all  to  meet  at  the  most  beautiful 
ruins  you  ever  saw." 

"  So  be  it,"  he  said,  "  I  shall  be  a  beautiful  ruin  myself 
by  the  time  I  have  ridden  an  hour  in  this  sultry  weather; 
but  I  am  resigned  " ;  and  the  party  set  off. 

"  I  shall  be  dreadfully  frightened  if  we  get  mixed  up 
with  that  crowd  of  people  and  horses,"  said  Lady  Portmore, 
as  she  took  her  place  in  Lord  Teviot's  phaeton.  "  Cannot 
we  take  some  other  road?  " 

"  Certainly,  if  you  are  afraid,  but  my  horses  are  very 
quiet;  and  if  you  wish  for  a  pretty  drive " 

"  But  all  the  drives  are  very  pretty.  Let  us  go  down  that 
road,  and  I  will  give  you  my  advice  as  to  any  improvements 

104 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  105 

that  may  strike  me.  Nesfield  says  I  have  a  good  eye  for 
the  picturesque;  but  above  all,  I  want  a  quiet  talk  with 
you,  and  we  should  be  interrupted  if  we  went  with  the 
others.     Is  that  Helen's  new  horse  she  is  riding?  " 

"  No;   Miss  Forrester  is  on  SeUm." 

"  Well,  I  wonder  Helen  did  not  prefer  your  gift.  I  am 
sure  that  from  sentiment  I  should  never  allow  any  human 
being  but  myself  to  ride  a  horse  that  had  been  given  to  me 
by  the  person  I  loved  best  in  the  world." 

"  That  is  an  interesting  and  romantic  idea ;  but  as  I  shall 
probably  have  the  honour  of  furnishing  Lady  Teviot's  stud 
to  the  end  of  our  days,  it  is  not  very  likely  that  she  will 
refuse  to  lend  a  horse  to  her  friends  when  they  come." 

"  Oh  dear,  no,  that  would  be  selfish ;  and  you  know  how 
I  hate  selfishness.  I  often  say  there  is  nobody  thinks  so 
little  of  self  as  I  do.  Still  I  wonder  Helen  did  not  ride 
Selim." 

Lord  Teviot  was  silent. 

"  Are  you  well,  Teviot?  "  said  Lady  Portmore  with  an 
air  of  great  interest. 

"  Quite  well,  thank  you." 

"  My  dear  Teviot,  do  you  know  I  am  not  quite  easy 
about  you.  You  certainly  are  not  in  your  usual  spirits. 
Do  tell  me,  is  there  anything  the  matter?  " 

"What  can  be  the  matter,  Lady  Portmore?  Pray  do 
not  put  fancies  of  illness  into  my  head,  and  allow  for  a  little 
additional  steadiness  in  a  respectable  married  man." 

"  Yes,  that  is  all  very  well,  my  dear  friend,  but  I  know 
you  too  well  to  be  satisfied  with  that  sort  of  joke.  Come, 
Teviot,  shall  I  put  you  at  your  ease  at  once?  that  pretty 
little  wife  of  yours  is  not  the  least  in  love  with  you,  and  your 
vanity — men  are  so  vain — is  a  little  hurt.  Is  not  this  the 
truth?" 

"  If  so,  it  is  another  proof  that  toute  verite  rCest  pas 
bonne    a    dire,''''    said    Lord    Teviot,    hastily,    for    he    was 


io6  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

stung  to  the  quick  by  the  remark.  Why  is  it  that  fools 
always  have  the  instinct  to  hunt  out  the  unpleasant  secrets 
of  life,  and  the  hardiness  to  mention  them  ? 

"  But  I  am  speaking  entirely  for  your  good,  and  you 
must  not  be  angry  with  me.  You  know  what  a  warm 
friendship  I  have  for  you,  and  the  interest  I  take  in  your 
happiness ;  and  I  really  look  upon  Helen  as  a  sister  of  my 
own.  So  I  want  to  make  out  why  it  is  that  you  are  not  so 
happy  together  as  I  wish  to  see  you.  Perhaps  you  expect 
too  much  from  Helen.  She  is  a  child,  you  know,  and  a 
petted  child;  and  she  has  been  idolized  at  home,  so  it  is 
natural  that  she  should  love  her  own  family.  I  see  you 
think  she  is  too  much  devoted  to  them,  and  perhaps  a  little 
afraid  of  you."  Lord  Teviot  gave  the  reins  a  jerk,  in  the 
fond  hope  of  giving  Lady  Portmore  a  fright ;  but  she  went 
on.  "  Perhaps  that  is  the  case  now,  but  you  must  give  her 
time.  Her  little  head  was  turned  by  your  rank  and  position 
in  the  world,  and  she  married  without  that  attachment  that 
a  girl  older  and  more  experienced  would  have  felt.  But 
trust  me,  Teviot,  she  will  fall  in  love  with  you  some  of  these 
days.  It  is  impossible  it  should  be  otherwise;  and  then 
you  will  forget  that  now  her  father  and  mother  and  all 
that  Eskdale  clan  are  more  to  her  than  you  are." 

This  was  the  pith  of  Lady  Portmore's  harangue.  Lord 
Teviot  hated  to  hear  what  she  was  saying;  he  hated  her 
for  saying  it,  and  himself  for  listening;  but  yet,  because  she 
fed  the  delusion  under  which  he  laboured,  because  she 
talked  to  him  of  himself,  and  because  she  was  handsome 
and  foolish,  he  allowed  her  to  go  on  putting  "  rancours  in 
the  vessel  of  his  peace,"  confirming  all  the  painful  suspicions 
against  which  he  had  struggled,  and  extracting  from  him 
avowals  that  he  wished  unmade  the  moment  they  were 
uttered.  Lady  Portmore  prevented  Lord  Teviot  from 
meeting  his  wife  and  guests  at  the  ruins.  She  put  into 
words  thoughts  most  repulsive  to  his  better  feeling.     She 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  107 

told  him  all  that  he  had  rather  not  have  heard;  and  he 
came  home  dispirited  and  annoyed,  but  convinced  that 
Lady  Portmore  was  an  excellent  friend,  and  that  it  was  most 
kind  of  her  to  persuade  him  that  his  wife  did  not  care  a 
straw  about  him. 


CHAPTER   XX 

"  Law  !  Mrs.  Nelson  and  Mrs.  Hunt,'*  said  Mrs.  Tomkin- 
son,  when  this  riding  party  set  off,  "  do  make  haste  to  look 
at  our  folks — here,  put  your  heads  out,  but  don't  let  them 
be  seen  for  all  the  world." 

"  Well,  what  a  many !  "  said  Mrs.  Hunt,  who  was  the 
original  Betsy  of  the  Douglas  young  ladies,  but  called  Hunt 
on  her  travels.  Her  manners  were  not  quite  equal  to  her 
position.  "  Well,  what  a  sight  of  company,  to  be  sure ;  and 
what  a  show  of  horses !  " 

"  Mrs.  Hunt,"  said  Mrs.  Nelson,  who  was  prim,  and  con- 
sidered rather  pompous  in  her  own  set,  "  I  must  trouble  you 
not  to  squeedge  my  sleeve." 

"There's  another  window,"  said  Mrs.  Tomkinson; 
"  you  go  there,  Mrs.  Hunt;  you  can  see  quite  as  well. 
She's  shocking  uncouth,  Mrs.  Nelson,"  she  added,  as  Betsy 
bustled  off  to  a  distant  window. 

"  She  squeedges,  certainly,  and  pushes  about  too  much; 
but  she  has  had  no  time  to  learn  manners.  Rome  was  not 
built  in  a  day.  There's  your  lady  getting  on  her  horse, 
Mrs.  Tomkinson." 

"  Yes,  and  your  young  lord  a-helping  of  her ;  and  there's 
the  old  lord  helping  Miss  Forrester;  and  there's  them 
Smiths !  " 

"  Who  are  they,  Mrs.  Tomkinson?  " 

"  The  heavens  above  only  know,  Mrs.  Nelson;  there  is 
such  a  tribe  of  Smiths  in  this  world.  I  see  Miss  Douglas 
goes  with  your  young  lady  in  the  bruche.     Between  our- 

io8 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  109 

selves,  Mrs.  Nelson,  what's  the  meaning  of  this  fancy  for  the 
Douglases?  " 

"  I  have  not  been  consulted,  Mrs.  Tomkinson;  but  my 
lady's  as  full  of  fancies  as  an  egg's  full  of  meat.  I  can't 
rightly  account  for  it,  except,  to  be  sure,  that  it  is  lonesome 
for  her  now  all  the  young  ladies  is  gone.  However,  the 
girl's  pretty,  and  civil  enough." 

"  Well,  and  if  there  ain't  my  lord  and  Lady  Portmore 
driving  off  by  theirselves  !  I  do  declare,  if  I  was  my  lady  I 
would  not  stand  that.  Do  you  know,  Mrs.  Nelson,  now  that 
there  Betsy  don't  hear  us — do  you  know,  I  can't  tell  what 
to  think  with  any  certainty  of  my  lord.  He  don't  stand 
high  in  my  good  books  by  any  means." 

"  I  am  sorry  to  hear  you  say  so,"  said  Mrs.  Nelson,  in  her 
primmest  manner,  "  for  of  course  a  person's  servants  is  the 
best  judges ;  but  I  am  sure  my  lady  has  no  idea  that  any- 
thing is  amiss." 

"  Oh,  and  my  lady  makes  no  complaints;  but  still,  you 
know,  if  one  has  eyes  one  must  see  what's  under  one's  nose ; 
and  my  lady  has  not  half  the  fine  sperrits  she  had." 

"  She  feels  strange,  poor  young  thing,  I  dare  say,  at  first." 

"  Yes;  but  ma'am,  I'm  sure  it's  more  than  that.  My 
lord  has  one  of  the  most  naggingest  tempers  it's  possible  to 
see ;  and  it's  my  belief  he  frets  and  worrets  her  ladyship  till 
she  wishes  herself  back  at  her  old  home  again.  And  as  for 
that  Lady  Portmore,  if  all's  true  as  I  hear,  she's  not  one  as  I 
should  choose  to  see  driving  about  in  a  curricle  with  my 
husband," 

"  What  do  they  say  of  her?  "  said  Mrs.  Nelson;  "  those 
Portmores  have  never  come  much  in  my  way." 

"  Oh,  I  heard  enough  of  her  when  I  lived  chambermaid 
with  the  Stuarts :  they  say  she  has  no  more  respect  for 
Lord  Portmore  than  she  has  for  the  hearth-broom;  and 
that  all  she  is  at  from  morning  to  night  is  to  catch  up 
admirers;   and  she  don't  care  for  other  people's  husbands 


no  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

being  other  people's  husbands,  but  likes  all  the  better  to 
make  them  follow  her.  And  that  is  just  the  sort  of  lady 
who  says  poor  servants  ain't  to  have  any  followers  at  all, 
not  even  to  keep  company.  I  have  no  patience  with  her; 
and  if  I  was  my  lady,  I  should  look  after  her  pretty  sharp 
with  my  lord." 

"  These  are  early  days  for  subspicions,  Mrs.  Tomkinson," 
answered  Mrs.  Nelson,  dogmatically;  "and  I  hope  your 
lady  will  never  have  cause  for  any." 

"  I  hope  so,  too,  ma'am ;  but  I  don't  quite  like  my  lord  " ; 
and  so  they  parted. 

One  of  the  odd  channels  scooped  out  by  Lady  Portmore's 
restless  vanity  was  a  persuasion  that  she  was  the  world's 
universal  confidante ;  and  she  would  enter  into  long  argu- 
ments to  prove  that  she  must  necessarily  have  foreknown  any 
piece  of  intelligence  or  gossip  that  was  imparted  to  her. 
Like  all  very  vain  people,  she  was  contradictory;  and 
this,  added  to  her  pretensions  to  universal  knowledge, 
rendered  her  conversation  a  glorious  mass  of  inconsistencies. 

"  I  have  heaps  of  news,"  she  said  one  morning  when  she 
came  down  to  breakfast.  "  I  dote  upon  letters,  particularly 
from  clever  people,  though  it  is  a  sad  thing  for  me,  having 
the  reputation  of  a  good  letter-writer  to  keep  up.  You  know 
there  is  no  vanity  in  saying  so,  for  my  letters  are  very 
original." 

"  Particularly  so,"  said  Ernest,  "  for  they  always  seem  to 
me  to  consist  of  rows  of  rather  crooked  lines,  without  either 
vowels  or  consonants." 

Lady  Portmore  gave  him  a  look  which  meant  to  imply  to 
the  company  at  large  that  Ernest  was  committing  a  little 
indiscretion  by  letting  out  that  she  corresponded  with  him. 
She  put  on  an  air  of  pretty  confusion,  and  said,  "  Pray 
what  do  you  know  about  my  letters?  "  and  then  went  on  : 

*'  But  now  for  my  news.  One  of  my  great  favourites  is 
going  to  be  married — Charles  Wyndham." 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  in 

"  Yes,  here  is  an  account  of  the  wedding  in  the  paper," 
said  Lady  Teviot. 

"  What,  already !  Well,  I  have  shown  my  discretion.  I 
take  you  all  to  witness  I  never  said  he  was  going  to  be 
married?  " 

*'  Did  you  know  it?  "  said  Ernest. 

"  Of  course  I  did,  because  the  Wyndhams  are  my 
second  cousins — at  least,  we  are  connected  somehow; 
but  now  I  have  another  piece  of  news  about  Reginald 
Stuart." 

Lord  Beaufort  could  not  resist  a  look  at  Mary.  She 
seemed  quite  calm. 

"  I  am  so  vexed  about  Stuart,  as  you  may  well  guess. 
He  is  such  a  dear  creature,  and  he  has  actually  gone  off  to 
Scotland  with  that  dancing  girl,  Pauline  Le  Gay.  I  am 
sorry  for  him,  and  still  more  for  myself.  It  will  put  me  into 
such  an  awkward  position  as  to  visiting  her.  He  is  actually 
married  by  this  time." 

"  I  doubt  it,"  said  Lord  Teviot,  quietly. 

"  I  wish  I  could,"  said  Lady  Portmore,  with  a  deep  sigh ; 
*'  but  there  is  no  use  keeping  his  secret  any  longer." 

"  Not  the  least,  unless  you  mean  to  let  him  have  the 
pleasure  of  telling  it  himself.     He  will  be  here  to-day." 

"  Stuart  here !  Then  he  is  coming  at  last.  I  thought 
he  would — I  made  such  a  point  of  it ;  but  he  will  marry 
that  horrid  girl  at  last,  you  will  see." 

"  There  is  one  strong  reason  against  it." 

"  You  would  not  think  so  if  you  were  in  his  confidence," 
said  Lady  Portmore,  most  mysteriously. 

"  To  a  certain  degree  I  am,"  said  Lord  Teviot,  "  for  he 
tells  me  here  '  That  fool  Reid  has  actually  carried  the 
Paulina  off  to  Scotland,  and  took  the  precaution  to  change 
his  name  for  fear  of  pursuit,  though  who  was  to  run  after 
them  except  her  dancing-master  remains  a  mystery.  How- 
ever, he  has  cleared  me  of  the  odium  of  being  supposed  to 


112  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

courtiser  la   belle   Pauline.     Now,   Lady  Portmore,  are  you 
satisfied?  " 

*'  Yes,  but  not  at  all  surprised.  I  remember  Reid 
applauded  her  so  in  that  stupid  ballet,  '  Rose  d'Amour,' 
that  I  said  he  must  be  in  love  with  her.  Mary,  you  were 
with  me  that  night;   you  must  remember  it." 

"  Was  I?  "  said  Mary,  with  an  air  of  doubt;  "  I  do  not 
recollect " 

"  Oh,  but  I  did  indeed ;  I  always  foresee  these  things.  I 
am  so  glad  I  persuaded  Reginald  Stuart  to  come  here,  out 
of  the  way  of  that  girl.  Mary,  my  love,"  she  said,  lowering 
her  voice,  and  affecting  great  interest  of  manner,  "  have 
you  a  headache?   you  look  pale  this  morning." 

"  Oh  no,  pray  don't  have  the  headache,  Mary,"  said 
Helen,  indignant  at  this  instance  of  Lady  Portmore's  want 
of  tact.  "  I  beg  that  both  my  young  ladies,"  she  added, 
smiling  at  Eliza,  "  will  look  their  very  best,  for  there  will  be 
a  large  party  to  amuse,  to  say  nothing  of  Colonel  Stuart." 

"  /  can  promise  to  take  some  of  that  trouble  off  your 
hands,  young  ladies,"  said  Lady  Portmore,  in  a  tone  of 
pique.  "  Colonel  Stuart  comes  on  my  invitation."  It  was 
an  unlucky  morning  for  her.  She  had  been  vexed  by  the 
total  failure  of  her  letters  and  her  news;  and  when  her 
vanity  was  in  a  state  of  mortification,  she  became  more  than 
usually  untact.  She  complimented  Helen  on  her  dress, 
and  asked  if  it  were  Teviot's  taste — "  but  I  am  sure  it  is, 
for  he  used  to  complain  of  your  style  of  dress  as  too  simple 
before  he  knew  you  well,  so  I  must  congratulate  you  on  the 
improvements  he  has  made :  you  are  tirie  d.  quatre  ipingles 
this  morning."  This  pleasant  speech  made  three  people 
uncomfortable.  Helen  did  not  like  to  hear  that  Lord 
Teviot  had  ever  found  fault  with  her, — Lady  Eskdale  was 
hurt  that  it  was  supposed  she  had  dressed  her  daughter  ill, — 
and  Lord  Teviot  did  not  choose  it  to  be  supposed  that  he 
had  made  Lady  Portmore  his  confidante,  and  that  on  the 


THE    SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  113 

very  important  point  of  his  wife's  dress.  Then  she  tried  a 
Httle  sportive  condescension,  in  the  shape  of  a  joke  to 
EHza  on  Lord  Beaufort's  attentions ;  and  that  made  Eliza 
colour  till  the  tears  came  into  her  eyes,  as,  in  the  primitive- 
ness  and  innocence  of  her  home  education,  she  looked  upon 
love  and  lovers  as  sacred  mysteries  never  to  be  profaned  by 
a  jest ;  and,  moreover,  expected  that  Eskdale  Castle  would 
fall  down  at  the  mere  idea  of  Lord  Beaufort's  condescending 
to  admire  her.  Lady  Portmore  finished  by  what  she  thought 
a  noble  touch  of  magnanimity.  Taking  Mary's  hand,  and 
saying  in  an  audible  whisper,  "  You  must  forgive  me,  my 
love,  if  I  distressed  you  by  what  I  said  of  Colonel  Stuart. 
You  know  how  thoughtless  I  am;  but  we  won't  allude  to 
that  history  any  more.  Pray  say  you  forgive  me."  What  a 
woman !  and  what  a  fine  quality,  what  an  absolute  virtue 
Tact  is.  Lady  Portmore  never  had  a  grain  of  it — a  mis- 
fortune that  fell  more  heavily  on  her  friends  than  on  herself. 


CHAPTER   XXI 

Colonel  Stuart  arrived;  but  another  change  took 
place  in  the  society  at  St.  Mary's.  Lord  and  Lady  Eskdale 
were  sent  for  by  Lady  Sophia  Waldegrave,  who  had  had  a 
sudden  attack  of  illness ;  and  Sir  W.  Waldegrave  requested 
her  mother  to  come  and  assist  in  nursing  her.  There  was  a 
consultation  and  a  demur,  and  a  fuss  about  Eliza's  destina- 
tion. Lady  Eskdale  thought  Mrs.  Douglas  would  not  like 
her  daughter  to  be  taken  so  far  from  home  as  the  Walde- 
graves',  so  she  was  left  to  Helen's  care  till  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Douglas  should  come  and  fetch  her.  Eliza's  letters  to  her 
sister  give  an  accurate  account  of  St.  Mary's  at  this  time. 

"My  dearest  Sarah, 

*'  I  would  give  anything  for  a  good  hour's  talk 
with  you.  You  have  not  told  me  half  enough  about 
Mr.  Wentworth,  and  that  walk  to  the  Mill,  and  your  fit 
of  dignity  about  the  music  book.  It  is  so  interesting,  and 
quite  as  amusing  as  one  of  Miss  Austen's  novels ;  and  this 
is  all  true,  and  your  happiness  is  concerned  in  it;  so  you 
may  guess  how  I  pore  over  your  letters.  If  he  does  not 
propose  soon,  I  shall  think  he  is  behaving  very  ill,  and  shall 
hate  him;  but  I  know  he  will.  We  go  on  very  happily 
here;  at  least,  I  hope  dear  Helen  is  happy;  but  I  do  not 
feel  quite  sure.  Lord  Teviot  is  very  pleasant,  I  dare  say, 
and  very  clever,  but  he  is  sometimes  rather  cross,  and  he 
seems  to  tease  Helen.  I  always  wish  when  he  does  that  I 
were  a  lady  of  great  consequence,  and  could  speak  out  and 
tell  him  what  I  think.  Talking  of  great  ladies,  that  Lady 
Portmore  is  worse  than  ever.  I  am  sure  Helen  cannot  like 
her.     She  takes  up  so  much  of  Lord  Teviot's  attention ;  and 

114 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  115 

yet  she  is  not  satisfied  with  that.  Last  night  when  Colonel 
Beaufort  came  and  sat  down  by  me,  she  actually  called  to 
him  to  come  to  her ;  and  though  of  course  I  did  not  care 
whether  he  went  or  not,  it  was  very  uncivil  of  her.  He  is 
very  amusing.  I  was  quite  wrong  when  I  said  he  put  me 
in  mind  of  Ape  Brown,  and  he  is  always  trying  to  persuade 
me  that  I  shall  be  bored,  and  that  life  is  nothing  but  a 
trouble ;  and  you  know,  I  never  was  bored  in  my  life,  and 
I  think  life  very  good  fun.  There  is  a  Colonel  Stuart  here, 
who  was  once  engaged  to  Miss  Forrester,  they  say;  but  it 
cannot  be  true,  or  she  would  not  seem  so  unconcerned  as 
she  does ;  and  he  does  not  take  so  much  notice  of  her  as  he 
does  of  Helen.  He  is  a  great  friend  of  Lord  Beaufort's; 
and  Lady  Portmore  says  he  is  a  great  friend  of  hers,  but  so 
she  says  of  everybody.  She  says  the  same  of  Colonel 
Beaufort,  and  yet  one  day  after  she  had  left  the  room  he 
said,  '  Bless  that  fair  lady !  she  talks  greater  nonsense  than 
ever.  She  has  been  talking  rural  economy  for  the  benefit  of 
the  country  neighbours.  I  would  give  ;,(^ioo  to  hear  her 
explain  the  poor-laws  to  Harriet  Martineau ;  she  is  capable 
of  it.  She  becomes  a  greater  treat  every  day.'  Now  that 
does  not  seem  as  if  he  liked  her ;  does  it  ?  If  mamma  comes 
to  fetch  me  home,  I  wish  you  would  send  my  other  white 
bonnet.  I  suppose  there  is  no  chance  of  mamma's  letting 
me  stay  here  till  Lady  Eskdale  comes  back.  I  shall  be  very 
glad  to  be  at  home  again ;  but  it  is  so  seldom  we  pay  any 
visits,  I  should  like  to  stay  here  a  little  longer.  When  I  said 
that  Colonel  Beaufort  was  amusing,  I  did  not  mean  that 
he  made  jokes,  and  laughed  a  great  deal;  but  he  says  odd 
things  in  a  dry,  grave  way,  that  make  other  people  laugh, 
without  seeming  to  take  any  trouble  about  it  himself.  I 
am  afraid  mamma  will  think  him  affected;  not  that  it 
would  signify,  only  I  do  not  think  he  is. 
"  Yours  aflfectionately, 

"  Eliza  Douglas." 


ii6  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

Colonel  Stuart's  history,  which  Miss  Douglas  could  not 
explain,  was  simply  that  he  had  been  as  much  attached  to 
Mary  Forrester  as  it  was  in  his  nature  to  be,  and  his  peculiar 
talents  for  pleasing  had  not  been  exerted  less  successfully 
with  her  than  they  had  in  many  other  instances  of  which 
she  knew  nothing.  He  disguised  his  faults  for  a  time,  and 
when  Mary  discovered  that  he  was  extravagant,  that  he 
played,  and  that  he  was  totally  without  religious  principle, 
she  found  that  the  determination  to  give  him  up,  which 
followed  her  discoveries,  was  accompanied  by  bitter  feelings 
of  regret.  But  Lord  Beaufort  was  wrong  in  his  assertion 
that  she  jilted  Colonel  Stuart  on  her  accession  to  wealth. 
Their  engagement  was  at  an  end  some  weeks  before  the 
unexpected  death  of  a  distant  relation  gave  Miss  Forrester 
her  fortune.  This  circumstance  added  to  the  mortification 
which  Colonel  Stuart  felt ;  and  if  he  had  not  actually  said 
that  her  sudden  prosperity  had  induced  her  to  change  her 
mind,  he  had  allowed  it  to  be  said  by  his  friends.  He  was 
a  popular  man  with  men,  and  there  were  many  of  his 
partisans  who  made  it  their  business  on  this  occasion  to  talk 
of  Miss  Forrester  as  cold-hearted  and  capricious ;  and  who, 
when  they  meant  to  go  the  extremist  lengths  of  vituperation, 
accused  her  of  being  actually  a  saint.  But  this  awful 
assertion  was  of  course  made  in  a  low  tone  of  horror,  and 
mentioned  only  in  strict  confidence.  Colonel  Stuart  for 
some  time  kept  up  an  appearance  of  attachment  and  regret. 
Perhaps  he  thought  it  impossible  that  any  woman  whom  he 
had  condescended  to  love  could  give  him  up  and  forget 
him.  But  when  the  consistency  of  Miss  Forrester's  conduct 
convinced  him  that  she  was  in  earnest,  he  returned  to  his 
former  courses,  played  higher,  betted  more,  and  flirted 
more  determinedly  with  married  women;  and  whether 
his  love  of  Mary  were  really  or  not  forgotten  in  the  bottom 
of  his  heart,  he  met  her  in  society  with  apparent  indifference, 
and  in  general  seemed  to  forget  that  they  had  ever  been  on 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  117 

more  intimate  terms.  He  did  not  know  that  she  was  at 
St.  Mary's  when  he  accepted  Lord  Teviot's  invitation ;  but 
her  presence,  when  he  found  her  in  the  drawing-room, 
appeared  to  give  him  neither  pain  nor  pleasure. 

Lady  Portmore  talked  to  him  in  the  evening  for  two 
hours  and  a  half,  in  a  low,  confidential  tone,  making  him 
thoroughly  uncomfortable  by  assurances,  that  she  was  his 
constant  friend  with  Mary  Forrester. 

"  Now,  my  dear  Stuart,  I  am  not  paying  you  a  compli- 
ment when  I  assure  you  I  feel  quite  justified  in  persuading 
Mary  that  she  ought  to  relent  at  last.  She  will  be  a  model 
wife ;  and  I  know  you  have  too  much  good  taste  not  to  give 
up  play,  and  any  other  little  pursuits,  when  you  marry." 

"  My  dear  Lady  Portmore,  for  propriety's  sake  don't  talk 
of  my  other  little  pursuits  in  that  meaning  tone ;  and  for  my 
sake,  do  not  propose  in  my  name  to  Miss  Forrester.  She 
might  accept  me." 

"  Well,  and  you  know  you  are  dying  to  marry  her.  Now 
you  must  have  no  disguise  with  me,  Stuart;  we  know  each 
other  too  well  for  that.  You  are  a  little  mortified — yes, 
you  know  you  are — at  Mary's  perverseness.  Come,  own  it 
at  once,  and  then  trust  to  me  for  taking  up  your  cause 
warmly." 

"  Good  heavens,  Lady  Portmore,  what  a  strange  way 
you  have  of  proving  your  friendship  !  I  will  trouble  you  not 
to  assume  that  I  wish  to  pay  court  to  your  rich  friend,  or,  if 
I  did,  that  I  am  not  able  to  make  my  own  cause  good.  But 
I  see  how  it  is.  You  wish  to  get  Miss  Forrester  out  of  the 
way.  She  has  evidently  been  tampering  with  some  of  your 
victims.     Has  Ernest  wavered  in  his  allegiance?  " 

Colonel  Stuart  had  often  found  that  there  was  no  way 
of  checking  Lady  Portmore's  remarks  but  by  a  bold  im- 
pertinence addressed  to  herself.  She  had  not  wit  enough 
to  answer  it,  nor  discretion  enough  to  seem  not  to  under- 
stand it.     So  it  threw  her  into  long  verbose  explanations, 


ii8  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

during  which  she  lost  sight  of  her  original  topic.  And  now 
she  had,  in  her  character  of  the  most  virtuous  woman  in  the 
world,  to  repel  with  becoming  scorn  the  imputation  that 
Ernest  should  admire  her  at  all,  and,  in  her  character  of  the 
most  attractive  woman  in  the  world,  to  explain  how  it  was 
that  he  should  admire  her  so  much.  It  took  her  nearly 
twenty  minutes  to  conduct  this  argument  with  herself  to  a 
satisfactory  conclusion,  during  which  time  Colonel  Stuart 
took  a  survey  of  the  rest  of  the  society,  and  at  last  broke  in 
with  the  abrupt  question,  "  And  how  about  our  host  and 
hostess?  Are  they  very  tiresomely  in  love  still?  or  have 
they  begun  to  be  good  company  again?  " 

"  Teviot  is  a  great  friend  of  mine,"  said  Lady  Portmore, 
with  a  look  of  great  discretion.  "  So  there  is  no  use  in 
trying  to  extract  from  me  any  opinion  about  him,  poor 
fellow!" 

"What!  Is  it  come  to  poor-fellowing  him  already? 
That's  awkward.  Come,  out  with  it;  you  know  you  are 
longing  to  tell  me  all  about  it — is  he  bored  ?  or  jealous  ?  or 
what  is  it  ?  If  he  is  not  desperately  in  love  with  that  little 
jewel  of  a  wife,  I  am  surprised  at  his  taste,  that's  all ;  but 
those  wealthy  dogs  never  are  satisfied,  and  I  don't  wonder 
at  it.  Wealth  is  not  allowed  its  rights  in  this  strait-laced 
country.  It  is  monstrous  hard  that  a  man  who  is  rich 
enough  to  pension  off  his  old  wife  when  she  grows  tiresome, 
and  marry  a  new  one,  should  be  obliged  to  go  plodding  on 
in  the  old  routine,  with  the  same  woman  sitting  everlastingly 
opposite  to  him  at  his  own  table.  But  Teviot  can't  be 
bored  already.  Is  he  ?  I  am  half  in  love  with  his  wife 
myself." 

"  I  will  not  have  any  remarks  of  that  shocking  kind  made, 
and  above  all  to  me;  and,  what  is  more,  Stuart,  I  must 
insist  upon  it  that  you  talk  no  nonsense  to  my  little  friend 
Helen.  She  does  not  know  you  so  well  as  I  do,  and  it  might 
put   ridiculous  ideas   into   her  head — and   then   Teviot's 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  119 

temper But  that  I  say  nothing  about,  only  let  me  tell 

you  Mary  Forrester  will  not  take  very  well  any  marked 
attentions  of  yours  to  Helen." 

"  Won't  she  ?  Suppose  we  try,"  said  Colonel  Stuart,  and, 
rising,  he  joined  Lady  Teviot,  and  devoted  himself  to  her  for 
the  rest  of  the  evening. 


CHAPTER   XXII 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Douglas  arrived  at  St.  Mary's,  bringing 
to  Eliza  satisfactory  accounts  of  the  Wentworth  affair. 
Mrs.  Douglas,  to  be  sure,  knew  that  there  was  no  trust  to 
be  placed  in  any  man  on  earth;  they  were  all  as  hard  as 
boards,  and  as  fickle  as  the  winds,  and  one  more  selfish 
than  another.  Therefore,  if  Mr.  Wentworth  jilted  Sarah 
at  last,  it  would  not  surprise  her  for  a  moment ;  but  other- 
wise, she  would  have  said,  nobody  could  doubt  his  inten- 
tions. 

"  And,  mamma,"  said  Eliza,  who  had  met  her  parents 
with  unfeigned  delight,  "  Sarah  herself  seems  sure  Mr. 
Wentworth  likes  her,  and  I  am  sure  of  it  from  what  she  says. 
So  I  dare  say  he  is  not  so  unfeeling  as  you  think.  I  like  him 
very  much." 

"  Oh !  my  dear,  I  do  not  say  there  is  any  harm  in  him. 
In  fact,  I  had  rather  have  him  for  a  son-in-law  than  such 
a  Jerry  as  Sir  William,  such  a  goose  as  Lord  Walden,  or 
such  a  bashaw  as  Lord  Teviot;  but  even  if  he  is  really 
attached  to  Sarah,  that  will  not  make  me  think  better  of  men 
in  general.  And  pray,  Eliza,  how  does  Lord  Teviot 
behave  to  Helen,  and  at  what  time  do  they  dine  ?  It  must 
be  nearly  dressing- time." 

"  You  will  hear  the  bell,  mamma.  It  rings  half  an  hour 
before  dinner.  Helen  seems  very  happy,  and  Lord 
Beaufort  and  Colonel  Beaufort  and  Miss  Forrester  are  so 
fond  of  her,  that  she  must  be  delighted  while  they  are  here." 

There  was  an  intonation  in  Eliza's  voice,  when  the  name 
of  Colonel  Beaufort  occurred,  that  struck  Mrs.  Douglas's 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  121 

car.  No  woman,  be  she  ever  so  hardened  or  hackneyed 
in  the  ways  of  the  world,  can  ever  achieve  an  indifferent 
pronunciation,  if  the  term  may  be  allowed,  of  the  name  of 
the  individual  most  interesting  to  her.  There  is  no  disguise 
she  does  not  attempt ;  she  drawls  it  out  slowly,  it  will  not  be 
slighted.  She  runs  it  over  quickly,  it  will  not  be  slurred. 
She  inserts  it  between  two  other  commonplace  names,  it  is 
still  the  guinea  between  the  two  halfpence.  Still  it  is 
spoken  in  the  tone  of  voice  that  belongs  only  to  him. 

"  I  have  not  seen  Colonel  Beaufort  since  he  was  quite  a 
boy,"  said  Mrs.  Douglas.  "  I  suppose  he  is  like  all  the  rest 
of  the  family,  thoroughly  grand  and  fine.  I  think  you  wrote 
word  he  was  very  conceited." 

**  No,  mamma,  affected.  I  thought  him  so  at  first; 
and  perhaps  he  is  a  little  affected.  I  do  not  think  you  will 
like  him,  mamma." 

"  I  dare  say  not,  my  dear.  I  very  seldom  do  like  anybody ; 
but  probably  he  is  not  worse  than  Lord  Teviot,  nor  so  bad 
as  Lord  Beaufort.  I  have  an  idea  that  I  shall  prefer  him  to 
them." 

Eliza  was  quite  enchanted  with  such  positive  praise  of 
her  hero,  but  she  defended  Lord  Beaufort  valiantly; 
declared  that  he  was  the  most  good-natured  man  in  the 
world,  and  not  the  least  grand  or  fine. 

"  In  short,  the  best  of  the  two  cousins?  "  asked  Mrs. 
Douglas;  "  but  now,  my  dear,  we  must  dress,  and  when  I 
have  seen  all  your  fine  friends,  I  shall  know  better  what  to 
think  of  them.  Ring  for  Hunt.  How  I  hate  these  large 
rooms,  where  the  bells  are  always  a  mile  off!  " 

Mrs.  Douglas  found  considerable  food  for  observation  in 
the  party  assembled  at  St.  Mary's,  and  after  the  lapse  of 
two  or  three  days  she  had  drawn  from  the  events  that  were 
passing  before  her  eyes  the  cheering  conclusions, — that  the 
Teviot  menage  was  not  happy;  that  Lady  Portmore,  a 
beauty  and  a  fine  lady,  was  perfectly  insupportable,  and 


122  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

that  it  would  be  a  virtuous  action  to  be  as  disagreeable  as 
possible  to  her ;  that  Colonel  Stuart  was  in  his  way  quite 
as  detestable ;  that  there  was  no  chance  of  Lord  Beaufort's 
marrying  Miss  Forrester,  and  that  Colonel  Beaufort  was  a 
shade  less  languid  when  Eliza  was  talking  to  him  than  under 
any  other  circumstances. 

The  house  was  full  of  company,  for  the  first  week  in 
September  had  arrived,  and  Lord  Teviot's  friends  seemed  to 
be  unanimously  possessed  with  an  unusual  eagerness  to  visit 
him.  The  breakfast  table  was  covered  every  morning  with 
letters  from  enterprising  travellers  who  were  naturally 
going  to  the  other  side  of  England ;  but  who  could  make  a 
detour  to  St.  Mary's  if  they  were  wanted,  and  who  added  in 
a  postscript  that  they  should  be  there  before  an  answer 
could  arrive  to  stop  them.  Some,  who  did  not  know  Lady 
Teviot,  wrote  to  express  their  anxiety  to  make  her  acquaint- 
ance; and  those  who  did  were  particularly  desirous  to 
renew  it.  Nobody  said  a  word  about  partridges ;  but  it  was 
remarkable  that  from  each  carriage  that  arrived  there  was 
taken  a  long  mahogany  case,  followed  by  a  tin  canister  and 
a  powder  flask ;  and  that  each  new-comer,  in  the  course  of 
the  first  evening,  invariably  asked  if  the  harvest  were  well 
in,  and  if  the  birds  were  tolerably  strong  and  numerous. 

The  crowd  in  which  the  Teviots  lived  was  not  favourable 
to  the  growth  of  their  eventual  happiness  :  at  least,  in  nine 
cases  out  of  ten,  a  young  couple  should  be  left  very  much  to 
themselves  during  the  first  few  months  of  their  married 
lives.  That  complete  dependence  on  each  other,  which 
insures  habits  of  confidence  and  forbearance,  is  more  easily 
acquired  while  the  first  dream  of  love  lasts ;  and  tastes  and 
tempers  amalgamate  better  in  the  end  when  there  are  no 
witnesses  to  observe  that  they  do  not  quite  fit  at  first. 

Lord  and  Lady  Teviot  would,  even  if  they  had  wished 
it,  have  found  it  impossible  to  be  much  together  in  their 
present  train  of  life.     He  was  out  shooting  all  the  morning 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  123 

with  his  friends;  and  in  the  afternoon  she  was  riding  or 
driving  with  hers :  during  dinner  they  were  at  opposite  ends 
of  a  long  table,  and  in  the  evening  there  were  guests  to  be 
attended  to,  and  the  work  of  general  amusement  to  carry  on. 
Helen  did  not  own  it  to  herself,  perhaps  she  did  not  know  it, 
but  it  was  a  relief  to  her  to  be  spared  those  tete-d-tetes  with 
her  husband,  which  she  had  found  so  alarming  in  the  outset 
of  her  married  life.  Her  youthful  spirits  were  sufficient,  and 
more  than  sufficient,  to  carry  her  through  the  many  hours 
of  amusement  which  each  succeeding  day  presented.  Join- 
ing great  powers  of  enjoyment  to  a  strong  wish  to  please,  and 
aided  by  adventitious  circumstances,  she  moved  amongst 
her  guests  the  queen  of  a  gay  circle ;  and  if  she  caught  Lord 
Teviot's  eyes  fixed  on  her  sometimes  with  sternness,  some- 
times with  admiration,  she  merely  thought,  in  the  one  case, 
that  it  was  a  pity  he  was  so  unlike  everybody  else,  and  in  the 
other,  that  it  was  unfortunate  she  had  not  time  to  talk  to  him 
while  he  was  in  good  humour;  but  in  the  meanwhile  her 
impulse  was  to  turn  to  her  brother  or  her  cousin  for  assist- 
ance in  all  her  plans,  and  participation  in  all  her  gaieties. 

So  young  and  so  lovely  a  mistress  of  a  house  was  sure  to 
attract;  and  Lady  Portmore  began  to  feel  some  frightful 
misgivings,  not  that  Helen  would  eventually  rival  her  in 
general  admiration — no,  she  felt  convinced  that  there 
never  had  been,  and  never  could  be  such  an  universal 
favourite  as  herself,  but  she  considered  that  she  was  at  present 
in  a  false  position,  and  had  brought  the  real,  genuine,  well- 
established  Portmore  article  into  competition  with  a  frivol- 
ous, tinselly,  girlish  plaything  which  derived  a  momentary 
value  from  peculiar  circumstances.  She  began  to  think  it 
time  to  assert  herself,  and  to  overthrow  the  usurper.  She 
once  tried  to  look  bored,  and  apologized  to  the  company  for 
the  dull  evening  which  would  necessarily  ensue.  But  she 
found  that  it  ended  in  her  being  left  to  nurse  by  herself  the 
"  touch  of  headache  "  she  had  announced,  while  the  rest  of 


124  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

the  society  were  dancing  in  another  room,  and  Mrs.  Douglas 
took  the  opportunity  of  saying  that  she  would  come  and  sit 
quietly  with  her  while  the  young  people  were  amusing 
themselves. 

So  the  next  day  she  found  it  more  expedient  to  declare 
that  she  was  going  to  make  the  evening  very  amusing,  and 
to  arrange  some  charades. 

"  Come,  Teviot,  Ernest,  all  of  you,  you  must  each  take  a 
part." 

"  Who,  I?  "  said  Colonel  Beaufort,  looking  at  her  with 
an  air  of  astonishment  from  the  very  depths  of  his  arm-chair, 
where  he  was  sitting  very  contentedly  by  the  side  of  Eliza. 
"  My  dear  lady,  you  may  just  as  well  ask  me  to  go  and  break 
stones  for  Teviot's  new  road ;  it  would  be  quite  as  much  in 
my  line,  and  perhaps  less  trouble.  I  never  shall  forget 
what  I  went  through  last  year  at  Kirwood  Hall.  I  was 
asked  there,  and  was  foolishly  good-natured  enough  to  go. 
My  mind  misgave  me  the  first  evening  that  there  was  a 
screw  loose, — that  there  was  something  sinister  in  the 
designs  of  the  party.  There  were  two  or  three  abortive 
attempts  at  troublesome  games,  questions  and  answers, 
which  entailed  the  bore  of  thinking;  and  forfeits  which 
gave  an  infinity  of  trouble,  as  a  penalty  for  having  thought 
wrong.  Well,  I  put  down  these  atrocities  by  a  contemptu- 
ous smile  or  two,  but  the  next  evening  I  was  overborne  in 
my  turn;  and  I  give  you  my  honour,  that  I,  who  am  by 
nature  peaceable  and  inoffensive,  and  who  had  never  done 
any  harm  to  any  human  being  in  that  house,  was,  during 
three  hours,  persecuted  into  being  Lucius  Junius  Brutus,  a 
village  schoolmistress,  the  hind  legs  of  a  camelopard,  and  a 
wooden  clock  saying  tick,  tick,  tick.  The  next  morning  I 
made  an  early  transformation  of  myself  into  Colonel 
Beaufort  in  his  travelling  carriage;  but  I  doubt  whether 
my  constitution  has  ever  quite  recovered  the  trial  of  Kir- 
wood Hall.     No,  no  charades,  for  the  love  of  mercy." 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  125 

"  Well,"  said  Eliza,  "  I  wish  you  did  not  object  to  them; 
I  think  they  must  be  very  amusing,  and  then  you  would  act 
so  well;    I  wish  Lady  Portmore  would  arrange  one." 

"  How  odd  that  you  should  always  be  ready  to  be  amused  ! 
I  am  quite  sorry  I  have  destroyed  your  entertainment  for  the 
evening.  What  is  to  be  done?  Lady  Portmore  whisks 
about  so  fast,  it  would  be  vain  for  me  to  attempt  to  catch 
her.  Shall  I  write  her  a  note,  and  ask  her  to  act  for  your 
diversion?  " 

"  Oh,  no !  besides,  nothing  diverts  me  more  than  to 
hear  you  talk.  Pray  go  on,  and  tell  me  more  about  Kir- 
wood  Hall,  and  the  charades  there."  And  it  was  by  this 
naive  and  genuine  attention  to  his  conversation,  and  this 
open  delight  in  his  society,  that  the  unformed,  candid  Eliza 
attracted  the  languid,  blase  Colonel  Beaufort.  The  simple 
and  melancholy  fact  was  that  she  had  fallen  in  love  with 
him,  which  was  an  undignified  measure,  and  if  she  had  had 
only  a  year's  knowledge  of  the  world,  she  would  carefully 
have  concealed  the  preference  she  felt ;  but,  as  it  was,  she 
thought  only  that  he  was  very  pleasant,  and  that  she  was 
quite  happy  when  he  came  and  sat  down  by  her ;  and  she 
showed  this  without  disguise.  It  was  something  so  new, 
that  Ernest  was  flattered  by  it.  He  did  not  care  much 
about  it  at  present ;  but  if  the  chair  that  stood  near  her  was 
as  comfortable  as  any  other  in  the  room,  he  let  himself 
drop  into  that  by  preference.  He  would,  perhaps,  even 
have  put  up  with  a  cushion  less. 

Lady  Portmore  did  not  quite  like  his  manner  of  passing 
his  evenings,  and  when  her  particular  plan  of  charades  failed, 
she  had  nothing  for  it  but  to  try  to  disturb  the  general  com- 
fort of  the  society.  "  Come,  Miss  Douglas,"  she  said,  moving 
her  hands  about  as  if  she  were  playing  on  the  pianoforte, 
*'  are  we  to  have  no  harmony  this  evening?  I  am  in  the 
mood  for  a  little  music." 

"  I  do  not  think  Lady  Teviot  wishes  for  it,"  said  Eliza, 


126  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

who  joined  to  a  strong  desire  to  contradict  Lady  Portmore 
a  great  disinclination  to  move. 

"  Oh,  Lady  Teviot  has  made  over  her  powers  to  me  this 
evening.  I  think,  Teviot,  your  Httle  wife  has  abdicated, 
and  has  become  Helen  Beaufort  again.  She  and  her 
brother  have  been  reading  letters  and  whispering  to  each 
other  for  the  last  half-hour.  Are  you  shut  out  of  their 
councils?  " 

"  Lady  Teviot  has  not  had  a  very  good  account  of  her 
sister,"  he  said,  coldly,  "  and  Beaufort  was  naturally 
anxious  to  see  the  letters." 

*'  Dear,  I  am  very  sorry ;  I  wish  they  had  consulted  me — 
I  am  a  great  homoeopathist ;  I  dare  say  Helen  wishes  us  all 
away,  that  she  might  go  to  the  Waldegraves ;  but  really  we 
have  collected  such  a  large  party,  that  it  will  be  difficult  to 
disperse  our  forces.  Pray  who  is  that  foreigner  playing  at 
whist?  " 

*'  Don't  you  know  him?  M.  de  la  Grange;  he  comes 
over  to  England  every  year,  and  fancies  himself  a  complete 
Englishman  in  language,  pursuits,  and  habits,  but  without 
the  slightest  aptitude  for  either.  He  goes  in  the  winter  to 
any  country-house  of  any  description  to  which  he  can  get 
himself  invited,  without  much  discrimination  as  to  the 
society  he  meets  there.  '  It  is  all,'  he  says,  *  the  charming 
life  of  castle  ' ;  and  between  that  and  Melton,  where  he 
passes  a  miserable  month  of  falls  and  fright,  he  makes  out 
an  existence  which  he  thinks  perfection.  He  is  a  good- 
natured  animal,  and  I  never  grudge  him  a  fortnight's 
shooting." 

"  You  must  introduce  him  to  me ;  I  dare  say  he  has  heard 
of  me  at  Paris,  and  in  London :  all  foreigners  look  to  me  as 
their  patroness,  as  a  matter  of  course.  But  come,  Helen's 
colloquy  is  at  an  end.  Beaufort,  come  here,  I  am  so  sorry 
your  sister  is  ill,  but  I  want  you  to  sing.  Miss  Douglas  is 
obdurate,  but  Mary  will  accompany  you." 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  127 

"  Pardon  me,  Lady  Portmore,  but  I  must  fmish  this  bit 
of  work  to-night,"  said  Miss  Forrester. 

"Oh,  nonsense,  only  one  song!  Come,  Beaufort"; 
but  on  looking  round  she  discovered  that  Lord  Beaufort 
had  disappeared ;  and  so  that  attempt  fell  to  the  ground, 
and  Lady  Portmore's  gay  evening  was  rather  a  greater 
failure  than  her  dull  one. 


CHAPTER   XXIII 

*'  Mrs.  Douglas,"  said  Lady  Portmore,  "  I  am  going  to 
take  quite  the  privilege  of  an  old  friend  with  you,  but  I  feel 
as  if  I  had  known  you  all  my  life,  and  I  am  going  to  say 
something  very  impertinent." 

Mrs.  Douglas  nodded.  It  was  apparently  a  nod  of 
acquiescence  in  the  latter  proposition. 

"  That  dear  little  Eliza  of yo.urs,  I  am  charmed  with  her; 
I  am  indeed.  I  would  not  say  so  if  I  were  not ;  but  if  you 
will  take  my  advice,  you  will  not  allow  Colonel  Beaufort  to 
be  so  much  with  her." 

"  I  think  it  would  be  difficult  to  prevent  it,"  said  Mrs. 
Douglas,  with  an  affection  of  carelessness.  "  Colonel 
Beaufort  seems  to  be,  like  most  men,  very  much  in  the  habit 
of  taking  his  own  way." 

"  Yes,  but,  my  dear  Mrs.  Douglas,  I  am  so  afraid  your 
gay,  innocent  Eliza,  who  is  not  aware  how  encouraging  her 
frank  manner  is,  should  fancy  that  Ernest's  attentions  mean 
more  than  they  do:  I  know  him  so  thoroughly.  He  is  a 
dear,  kind-hearted  creature,  but  rather  a  dangerous  man. 
He  means  nothing  by  it,  but  he  always  seems  as  if  he  were 
making  love  to  every  woman  he  speaks  to." 

"  That  may  be  rather  tiresome,  and  is  very  wrong,"  said 
Mrs.  Douglas;  "  but  it  cannot  be  very  dangerous.  Those 
seeming  lovers  never  take  anybody  in." 

"  Eliza  is  so  young,"  continued  Lady  Portmore,  who  was 
longing  to  bring  the  conversation  round  to  herself,  "  and 
very  little  attention  turns  those  young  heads;  and  what 
made  me  wish  to  put  you  on  your  guard,  Mrs.  Douglas,  is 

128 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  129 

that  I  know — this  is  of  course  entirely  between  ourselves, 
but  I  happen  to  know  that  Ernest  is  much  attached  to 
another  person,  quite  a  hopeless  attachment,  but  so  it  is; 
he  is  very  much  in  love  with — a  married  woman." 

"  More  shame  for  her.  It  is  a  pity  she  does  not  see  him 
now,"  answered  Mrs.  Douglas,  still  preserving  her  cold- 
ness ;  "  she  would  be  thoroughly  mortified,  and  it  would  do 
her  a  great  deal  of  good.  I  have  no  patience  with  married 
women  and  their  lovers." 

"Oh!  but  you  mistake  me,  dear  Mrs.  Douglas;  I 
would  not  have  you  suppose  for  an  instant,  that  because 

Ernest   is  in   love  with ,  this  person  we  are  alluding 

to,  she  has  ever  thought  of  giving  him  the  slightest  en- 
couragement." 

"  But  it  is  what  I  do  suppose,  and  always  shall  believe. 
Lady  Portmore.  I  am  not  speaking  of  Colonel  Beaufort 
individually.  I  never  met  him  before,  and  shall  not  very 
much  care  if  I  never  meet  him  again ;  but  I  shall  always 
suppose  that  when  a  man  makes  love  to  a  married  woman  it 
is  entirely  her  fault,  and  it  gives  me  the  worst  possible 
opinion  of  her." 

"  My  dear  Mrs.  Douglas,"  said  Lady  Portmore,  growing 
quite  warm  in  the  argument,  "  I  do  think  you  are  a  little 
too  severe.  I  am  sure  I  know  some  instances  of  married 
women,  who  are  quite  surrounded  by  admirers,  who  yet 
have  conducted  themselves  in  the  most  wonderful  manner." 

"  I  dare  say  they  have,"  said  Mrs.  Douglas,  significantly. 
"  I  know  several  instances  myself,  and  very  wonderful 
women  they  are.     I  cannot  bear  them." 

"  Ay !  but  I  mean  in  the  most  exemplary  manner.  Now, 
Mrs.  Douglas,  only  last  year  I  knew  a  person,  a  married 
woman,  very  much  admired,"  sinking  her  voice  modestly, 
"  who  had  reason  to  know  that  a  man  whom  she  met 
constantly  in  society  was  very  much  in  love  with  her.  He 
was  in  her  opera  box  every  evening,  met  her  at  every  party 
I 


i3o  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

she  went  to,  and  passed  half  his  mornings  at  her  house.  She 
saw  the  folly  of  this,  knew  that  she  was  in  danger  of  being 
talked  of,  and  without  the  least  hesitation,  without  a  thought 
of  the  inconvenience  and  trouble,  she  set  off  to  Cornwall, 
and  passed  a  whole  week  there  with  the  most  tiresome  old 
aunt  in  the  world.  This  at  once  proved  to  the  man  that  he 
had  no  chance,  and  he  withdrew  immediately,  and  affected 
a  passion  for  somebody  else.  Now,  what  do  you  think  of 
that?  " 

"  Why,  that  there  never  was  anything  half  so  absurd.  If 
your  friend  had  given  up  her  opera  box,  sent  excuses  to  her 
balls,  and  said,  '  Not  at  home,'  for  a  week,  the  gentleman's 
passion  would  soon  have  come  to  an  end ;  and  if  she  had  at 
first  stayed  at  home  with  her  husband  and  children,  it 
never  would  have  had  a  beginning.  That  grand  action 
of  a  sudden  rush  to  Cornwall  must  have  flattered  him 
amazingly ;  it  showed  she  was  obliged  to  go  to  the  Land's 
End  for  safety.  No,  whenever  I  hear  any  of  that  cant  about 
the  difficult  position  of  a  married  woman  with  her  lovers, 
I  know  exactly  what  to  think  of  her ;  I  think  her  a  good-for- 
nothing  woman." 

"  Really,  Mrs.  Douglas,  good-for-nothing  is  rather  a 
strong  term.  I  must  say  I  cannot  go  so  far  as  that ;  good- 
for-nothing  is  an  odd  expression  applied  to  a  well-meaning 
woman." 

"Why,  what  is  she  good  for.  Lady  Portmore?  She  is 
not  a  good  wife,  nor  probably  a  good  mother,  and  certainly 
not  a  good  Christian ;  so  I  adhere  to  my  expression,  she  is 
good  for  nothing." 

*'  But  if  you  lived  in  London,  you  would  think  differently, 
Mrs.  Douglas ;  you  would  see  how  difficult  it  is  for  a  woman 

of  ordinary  pretensions However,  we  will  not  argue, 

for,  in  fact,  I  am  just  like  you,  one  of  the  strictest  people 
possible,  excessively  strait-laced  in  all  matters  of  principle ; 
and,  besides,  we  have  wandered  from  our  original  topic.     I 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  131 

merely  wished  to  put  you  on  your  guard  about  Ernest. 
He  is  just  the  sort  of  man  to  whose  attentions  I  should  object, 
for  a  daughter  of  my  own." 

"  I  forget  whether  you  have  any  grown-up  daughters?  " 
asked  Mrs.  Douglas,  with  an  innocent  air  of  doubt. 

"  My  dear  Mrs.  Douglas,  I  have  not  been  married  nine 
years — or  ten  at  the  very  utmost." 

"  /«-deed  !  "  There  was  an  emphasis  on  the  first  syllable, 
indicative  of  profound  astonishment. 

"  And  I  was  quite  a  child  at  the  time;  married  literally 
from  the  school-room,  before,"  with  a  half-sigh,  "  I  knew 
what  I  was  about." 

"  In-detd !  "  said  Mrs.  Douglas,  still  in  a  marked  state 
of  emphatic  surprise.  "  Well,  I  am  much  obliged  to  you, 
Lady  Portmore,  for  putting  me  on  my  guard  about  Colonel 
Beaufort,  but  these  things  must  take  their  chance.  Perhaps 
he  would  not  show  such  a  decided  preference  for  Eliza's 
society  if  there  were  anything  else  to  amuse  him ;  but  Miss 
Forrester  does  not  seem  inclined  to  take  any  notice  of  him ; 
and  Lady  Teviot  is  so  surrounded  by  all  the  other  gentle- 
men, she  has  no  time  to  attend  to  her  cousin.  So  there  are 
only  you  and  I  left.  Lady  Portmore,  and  apparently  he  has 
not  the  slightest  taste  for  our  society."  And  so  saying,  Mrs. 
Douglas,  who  had  been  rolling  up  her  strips  of  canvas,  and 
winding  off  her  ends  of  worsted,  quietly  took  her  basket  and 
walked  away,  leaving  Lady  Portmore  thoroughly  discom- 
fited by  the  many  offensive  insinuations  conveyed  in  her 
closing  speech.  She  was  regularly  out  of  sorts,  and  in  that 
soured  state  in  which  the  wish  to  do  a  little  mischief  is  a 
consoling  idea.  She  was  half  inclined  to  leave  St.  Mary's, 
where  her  vanity  felt  half  starved ;  but  her  faith  in  her 
power  over  Lord  Teviot  remained  unshaken,  and  her  wish 
to  try  it  had  become  stronger.  Besides,  she  could  not  go 
now,  there  was  a  great  man  coming. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

Mr.  G.  really  was  what  is  commonly  called  a  great 
man.  To  the  advantages  of  being  a  Secretary  of  State 
and  Leader  of  the  House  of  Commons,  he  joined  those  of 
being  a  brilliant  orator  and  a  very  agreeable  member  of 
society.  He  had  offered  himself  as  a  visitor  at  St.  Mary's, 
which  lay  within  reach  of  the  large  commercial  town  which 
he  represented,  and  in  which  Lord  Teviot  possessed  con- 
siderable property.  There  was  to  be  a  public  meeting, 
and  the  opening  of  a  new  bridge,  and  a  launch  of  a  large 
ship,  and  much  good  eating,  and  still  better  speaking,  at 
which  Mr.  G.  and  Lord  Teviot  were  to  assist. 

Mr.  G.  had  been  a  youthful  friend  of  the  late  Lord 
Teviot's,  and  the  kindness  which  he  received  from  the 
father  he  now  repaid  to  the  son.  He  had  a  high  opinion 
of  Lord  Teviot's  talents,  founded  more  on  the  intimate 
knowledge  he  had  attained  in  private  life  of  the  acuteness 
and  straightforwardness  of  his  mind,  than  on  the  two  or 
three  successful  speeches  he  had  made  in  the  House  of 
Lords;  and  Mr.  G.  was  anxious  to  remove,  by  the  stir  of 
official  life,  the  shadow  that  Lord  Teviot's  shyness  or  sensi- 
tiveness threw  over  his  higher  qualities. 

"  Come,  Teviot,"  said  Lord  Beaufort  at  breakfast,  "  I'll 
bet  you  what  you  like  that  you  are  in  office  before  this  day 
three  months." 

"  What  am  I  to  be  ?  a  clerk  in  the  Foreign  Office  ?  I  do 
not  see  any  other  opening." 

*'  Oh,  they  will  make  an  opening  fast  enough,  if  you  will 
go  in  at  it.     They  can  shove  off  old  Lisle  to  India,  or  make 

132 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED    COUPLE  133 

out  an  embassy  for  Chaffont.     You  will  be  in,  somehow, 
before  Christmas." 

"  Not  before  Christmas,  if  at  all.  Nobody  has  time  to 
be  turned  out  during  the  holidays." 

"  How  ver  droll !  "  exclaimed  La  Grange ;  "  but  it  is  a 
truth  of  the  most  striking.  We  in  England  are  so  occupied 
with  the  chase  and  the  sport,  and  with  the  life  of  the  castle 
in  the  winter,  that  we  forget  entirely  our  politique.  I  am 
ver  much  delight  to  think  I  will  meet  Mr.  G.  in  the  ease  of 
the  country.  He  is  one  hero  of  mine.  Does  he  voyage 
alone,  my  lord?  " 

"  Ah !  who  comes  with  him,  Teviot?  " 

"  Only  his  private  secretary,  the  faithful  Fisherwick." 

"  Fisherwick !  "  repeated  Colonel  Stuart;  "Heavens 
and  earth !    I  trust  not." 

"  Why,  what  harm  do  you  know  of  him,  Colonel 
Stuart?  "  said  Lady  Teviot. 

"  The  gods  forfend  that  I  should  know  anything  more 
or  anything  worse  of  him  than  his  extraordinary  cognomen ; 
but  imagine  travelling  with  one  of  that  curious  species. 
Think  of  being  shut  up  alone  in  a  carriage  with  a  live  Fisher- 
wick !     It  makes  my  blood  run  cold." 

"  Fisherveke !  "  repeated  La  Grange.  "  It  is  a  difficult 
word,  but  I  do  know  oder  of  that  name — at  least,  I  know 
a  Mrs.  Fisher  very  well,  who  live  at  Hampton  Veke ;  so  I 
suppose  she  is  one  relation.  She  is  made  to  be  painted, 
and  most  charming.  Does  your  ladyship  know  Mrs. 
Fisher?  "  addressing  Lady  Portmore. 

"  Oh  dear  no ;  never  heard  of  her,"  said  Lady  Portmore, 
tartly.  She  began  to  think  La  Grange  not  worth  a  civil 
answer.  "  But,  Teviot,  to  return  to  this  idea  of  your 
coming  into  office.  It  is  what  I  have  always  wished  for 
you;  and  I  shall  insist  on  G.'s  making  some  arrangement 
that  will  bring  you  in.  I  can  promise  you  Lord  Portmore's 
support;    he  has  a  very  high  opinion  of  G." 


134  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

"  Poor  G. !  "  whispered  Ernest  to  his  cousin.  "  I  hope 
she  won't  let  that  be  generally  known;  it  might  give  him 
a  shake  in  public  estimation." 

"  And  then,  Helen,"  continued  Lady  Portmore,  "  when 
Teviot  is  in  office,  you  and  I  must  set  about  being  popular, 
for  the  good  of  our  friends.  We  must  keep  open  house 
for  the  supporters  of  government.  I  will  send  you  my  list, 
and  with  a  little  of  my  help,  you  may  make  Teviot  House 
of  real  importance  to  our  party." 

"  I  am  sure,"  said  Helen,  laughing,  "  I  should  be  puzzled 
to  say  what  my  party  is,  for  at  this  moment  I  am  very 
ignorant  of  all  political  matters ;  but  if  Lord  Teviot  comes 
into  office,  I  suppose  I  shall  grow  as  eager  as  most  people 
are." 

"  Would  you  like  me  to  take  office,  dear?  "  said  Lord 
Teviot,  who  was  pleased  with  this  avowal. 

"  Yes,  I  think  so  !    and  yet " 

"  Oh  yes,  to  be  sure  you  would,"  interrupted  Lady  Port- 
more;  '*  everybody  likes  distinction;  and  you  as  well  as 
the  rest,  Helen :  and  then  you  could  be  of  use  to  all  the 
Beauforts  and  Pelhams  in  creation,  which  would  delight 
you." 

"  I  need  not  begin  to  think  of  them  yet.  Lord  Teviot  is 
still  unprovided  for." 

"  No,  Helen;  and  as  you  seem  so  well  disposed  for  a 
political  life,  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  the  whole  thing  is  a 
vision  of  Lady  Portmore's,  and  that  G.  has  no  more  idea 
of  giving  me  an  office  than  I  have  of  asking  for  one." 

"  I  am  thinking,"  said  Lady  Portmore,  "  if  nothing  else 
is  available,  which  of  the  foreign  embassies  you  could  have  ?  " 

"Oh  no!  not  an  embassy,"  said  Helen  eagerly;  "I 
could  not  bear  to  live  abroad, — and  to  leave  papa  and 
mamma,"  she  was  about  to  add,  but  from  some  undefined 
feeUng  she  stopped  and  said,  "  and  to  leave  England  and 
my  own  home." 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED    COUPLE  135 

"  No,  I  think  I  might  ask  you  in  vain  to  do  that,"  said 
Lord  Teviot,  coldly,  for  he  rightly  interpreted  the  meaning 
of  the  pause  in  her  sentence.  "  I  should  not  have  a  willing 
companion  in  my  exile." 

"  Oh,  you  naughty  girl !  "  said  Lady  Portmore,  affectedly, 
"  to  hesitate  about  following  your  husband  wherever  he 
goes — to  say  nothing  of  such  a  husband  !  I  am  shocked  at 
your  hard-heartedness." 

"  I  do  not  think  Helen's  hard-heartedness  to  be  compared 
to  yours.  Lady  Portmore,"  said  Mary  Forrester.  "  You 
have  suddenly  sent  Lord  and  Lady  Teviot  out  of  the 
country,  without  the  slightest  warning.  I  have  no  doubt 
Lord  Teviot  would  be  just  as  sorry  to  leave  his  friends  as 
Helen  would  be  to  leave  hers.  Of  course  I  say  nothing  of 
such  friends  !  "  she  added,  laughing,  as  she  looked  round  the 
table.  "  In  common  politeness,  neither  he  nor  Helen  can  say 
that  they  could  quite  console  each  other  for  the  loss  of  us." 

"  Very  true,"  said  Ernest,  who  saw  Lady  Portmore's 
game;  and  "Very  true,"  added  Lord  Beaufort,  who  was 
struck  with  Miss  Forrester's  energy  and  warmth;  but  at 
the  sound  of  his  voice  in  approval,  the  colour  that  came 
into  Mary's  cheek,  and  the  slight  curl  of  her  lip,  reminded 
him  that  he  was  not  privileged  to  offer  his  opinion  to  her. 
Since  the  unlucky  conversation  in  the  library,  not  a  word 
had  passed  between  them,  not  even  a  look ;  she  never  seemed 
to  see  him.  Once  or  twice  it  had  nearly  fallen  to  his  lot  to 
hand  her  in  to  dinner,  but  without  any  apparent  premedita- 
tion, without  a  shadow  of  pique  in  her  manner,  she  had 
contrived  either  to  put  Eliza  forward,  or  by  negligently 
continuing  the  conversation  in  which  she  might  be  engaged, 
to  make  it  seem  inevitable  that  Sir  C.  Smith,  or  Mr.  Douglas, 
or  Colonel  Beaufort,  should  offer  her  an  arm,  and  walk  in 
before  him.  He  did  not  quite  like  it;  he  would  have 
preferred  an  open  war,  an  attempt  at  explanation,  or  a  tart 
retort — but  she  did  not  deign  to  show  her  dislike  in  words. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

Mr.  G.  arrived,  of  course  too  late  for  dinner;  but  as 
it  was  some  years  since  he  had  seen  either  soup  or  fish 
in  their  best  and  hottest  state  of  cuHnary  excellence,  he  was 
quite  satisfied — made  the  slightest  possible  apology  for 
sitting  down  to  dinner  in  his  travelling  dress,  and  looked 
like  a  gentleman  and  a  well-dressed  man. 

Fisherwick  looked  horrid:  he  was,  from  his  sedentary 
habits,  averse  to  an  open  carriage,  even  in  the  dog-days; 
and  the  afternoon  had  been  wet  and  foggy,  so  he  was 
chilly  to  the  last  degree;  and  he  always  turned  bright 
yellow  tipped  with  blue  when  the  fresh  country  air  blew 
for  any  length  of  time  on  his  worn-out  Downing-street 
frame.  His  hair  contrived  to  collect  more  dust  than  the 
usual  laws  of  capillary  attraction  warranted.  His  black 
neckcloth  turned  browner  and  hung  looser  than  common 
black  cravats ;  his  coat  was  a  dingy  brown — and,  altogether, 
he  had  the  air  of  an  exhausted  ink-bottle.  If  he  had  been 
allowed  his  luncheon  on  the  road,  and  gallons  of  hot  soap 
and  water  on  his  arrival,  he  would  have  been  quite  another 
Fisherwick ;  but,  as  it  was,  he  looked  like  "  a  very  unwashed 
artificer  "  indeed;  and  till  he  arrived  at  his  third  glass  of 
champagne,  he  was  as  depressed  and  as  uncomfortable  as 
it  was  possible  for  a  Cabinet  Minister's  private  secretary, 
nS  Fisherwick,  to  be.  But  then  he  revived,  and  resumed  his 
usual  habits  of  official  affability  and  courteous  incom- 
municativeness,  and  his  little  dry  pleasantries  flowed  forth, 
playfully  cloaking  his  inflexible  discretion. 

136 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  137 

"Any  foreign  news,  Fisherwick?  "  said  Sir  Charles. 
"  I  don't  half  like  your  last  Spanish  accounts.'* 

"  Ah,  trust  you  country  gentleman  for  croaking,  and 
for  finding  out  what  is  not  to  be  liked;  you  are  never 
satisfied." 

"  The  last  published  details  are  anything  but  satisfactory. 
Have  you  any  later  accounts?  " 

"  I  do  not  know  the  date  of  the  last  you  saw." 

"They  were  dated  the  23rd;  you  must  have  heard 
later  news  than  that." 

"  We  ought,  certainly.  For  myself,  I  ask  nothing  more 
from  Spain  than  a  glass  of  this  excellent  sherry." 

"  Are  you  asking  about  the  Spanish  news?  "  said  Mr.  G. 
from  the  other  end  of  the  table.  "  Nothing  can  be  worse ; 
our  friends  are  in  full  retreat,  and,  in  fact,  the  game  is  up." 

"  Now  is  not  that  so  like  him?  "  exclaimed  Fisherwick 
in  an  ecstasy.  "  I  always  say  there  is  nothing  like  his 
candour  and  courage.     I  never  saw  such  a  man." 

"  At  what  time  did  you  start  this  morning?  " 

"  At  seven;   he's  always  ready,  you  know." 

"  You  must  have  found  it  coolish  work,  starting  in  the 
rain  and  fog  at  that  hour?  " 

*'  He  never  is  cold,"  said  the  pinched  and  suffering 
Fisherwick ;  "he  said  it  was  as  fine  a  morning  as  we  could 
expect.  He  has  the  cheerfullest  mind,  and  a  power  over 
it  that  I  never  sr  v  equalled.  What  do  you  think  he  did  the 
last  stage? — slep  like  a  top,  though  I  told  him  when  we 
changed  horses  tl.  t  I  was  afraid  we  should  be  too  late  for 
dinner.  '  We  alw.  ys  are,  my  dear  Fish,'  he  said,  and  went 
to  sleep  again  with  the  greatest  composure.  He  has  such 
equable  spirits." 

"  He  looks  well,"  said  Lord  Beaufort,  "  considering  what 
a  bore  of  a  session  it  has  been." 

"Does  not  he?"  said  Fisherwick,  triumphantly.  "I 
am  excessively  glad  your  lordship  has  observed  it ;    it  is 


138  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

quite  remarkable.  I  never  saw  him  look  better  " ;  and  his 
dear  dusty  eyes  filled  with  tears,  for  his  devotion  to  his  chief 
was  as  genuine  as  it  was  apparent,  and  he  always  took  to 
himself  the  comments,  whether  complimentary  or  con- 
demnatory, that  were  made  on  Mr.  G.  It  made  him  feel 
well  himself  to  be  told  that  Mr.  G.  looked  so. 

Lady  Portmore  was  not  satisfied  with  her  position  at  the 
dining-table.  She  was  seated  by  Lord  Teviot,  and  as  the 
place  next  to  Helen  had  been  reserved  for  Mr.  G.,  she  was 
as  far  removed  from  the  reigning  great  man  as  was  possible ; 
and  to  her  surprise  she  saw  Helen  and  Mr.  G.  talking  and 
laughing  with  all  the  ease  of  old  acquaintance.  Once  or 
twice  she  tried  to  enter  into  their  conversation;  but  the 
distance  was  too  great,  and  her  sparkling  remarks  were 
lost  in  the  steam  of  the  entrees  before  they  reached  the 
head  of  the  table. 

"  What  a  clever  countenance  my  friend  G.  has,"  she 
said  to  Lord  Teviot ;  "  such  a  brow !  If  I  met  him  without 
knowing  who  he  was,  I  should  say  directly,  That  must  be 
a  clever  man !  " 

"  It  is  very  unlucky,"  said  Mrs.  Douglas,  who  was  seated 
on  the  other  hand  of  Lord  Teviot;  "  but  I  cannot  agree 
with  you  at  all.  I  never  was  more  disappointed  in  my  life 
with  anybody's  looks ;  he  is  so  bald,  and  nearly  gray — at 
least  ten  years  older-looking  than  I  had  expected — and 
altogether  very  much  like  other  people.  But  that  is  always 
the  case.  I  never  yet  saw  anybody  who  had  been  much 
cried  up,  who  did  not  seem  to  me  particularly  common- 
place." 

"  Wait  till  you  hear  him  converse,"  said  Lord  Teviot; 
"  perhaps  you  will  then  own  that  he  is  rather  above  the 
common  herd." 

"  Yes,"  said  Lady  Portmore,  "  you  will  see  how  it  will  be 
this  evening ;  he  is  perhaps  more  at  his  ease  with  me  than 
with  anybody,  and  I  will  lead  him  to  talk  on  subjects  that 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  139 

interest  him,  and  you  will  be  amazingly  struck  with  his 
talent." 

"  At  present  I  am  more  struck  with  his  teeth.  Pray, 
does  he  always  laugh  so  much  ?  amongst  common  characters 
that  would  be  looked  upon  as  a  proof  of  folly." 

"  Perhaps  G.  will  turn  out  to  be  a  fool  at  last,"  said 
Lord  Teviot. 

"  Oh,  no !  "  interrupted  Lady  Portmore,  who  had  not 
the  first  principles  of  a  joke  in  her;  "  you  may  believe  me, 
G.  is  no  fool.  I  can  answer  for  that;  I  have  known  him 
for  ages,  and  can  venture  to  say  he  is  decidedly  above  par." 

"  Well,  then,  his  laughter  is  only  a  proof  that  Lady 
Teviot  amuses  him ;  they  certainly  are  very  gay  at  that  end 
of  the  table." 

"  Yes,  absolutely  noisy,"  said  Lady  Portmore,  spitefully. 
*'  Now,  my  dear  Teviot,"  she  added,  lowering  her  voice, 
"  this  shows  you  how  right  I  was,  when  I  told  you  that 
Helen  required  mixed  society  to  put  her  in  spirits.  Only 
let  your  house  be  full,  and  she  will  be  happy ;  and,  perhaps, 
when  she  is  a  little  older  and  wiser  she  will  be  content 
with  a  more  domestic  life."  And  with  this  food  for  medita- 
tion she  left  him,  as  she  obeyed  Helen's  signal  to  retire. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

"  Don't  you  think  Reginald  Stuart  very  much  out  of 
spirits?  "  said  Lady  Portmore,  when  she  was  lingering  over 
the  breakfast-table,  after  the  other  ladies  had  withdrawn 
and  Lord  Teviot  and  Stuart  had  gone  out  shooting. 

"  Yes,  I  think  he  is,"  said  Ernest,  "  rather  out  of  spirits, 
and  very  much  out  of  cash,  I  suspect ;  the  old  story  of  cause 
and  effect." 

"Poor  fellow!"  continued  Lady  Portmore;  "it  is  a 
very  deplorable  case,  for  I  don't  believe  that  tiresome,  poky 
brother  of  his.  Lord  Weybridge,  will  help  him.  In  fact, 
between  ourselves,  I  don't  like  Lord  Weybridge;  he  is  so 
hypocritical,  he  always  pretends  to  be  on  good  terms  with 
our  friend  Reginald,  and  yet  he  lets  him  go  on,  distressed 
to  the  last  degree  for  money." 

"  He  did  pay  his  debts  once,  you  know,  £16,000." 

"Yes,  but  that  was  years  ago;  when  Stuart  was  so 
young  he  hardly  knew  what  he  was  spending.  I  have 
heard  him  say  twenty  times  that  he  had  no  more  idea 
how  he  spent  all  that  money  than  the  man  in  the  moon. 
But  now  that  he  is  older  and  wiser,  I  feel  certain  that  if 
Lord  Weybridge  were  to  pay  oflfwhat  he  owes,  and  give  him 
something  reasonable  to  live  on,  he  would  be  very  steady." 

''  Weybridge  has  six  boys  of  his  own,  you  must  remem- 
ber," said  Lord  Beaufort. 

"  Now,  my  dear  Beaufort,  do  not  you  join  to  run  down 
poor  Stuart ;  you  can  have  no  idea  of  his  position.  There 
you  are,  an  only  son,  with  a  large  allowance,  and  Lord 
Eskdale  ready  to  pay  your  debts  at  any  moment." 

140 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  141 

*'  Is  he?  I  am  charmed  to  hear  it,  but  I  beg  to  observe 
that  he  has  not  had  to  pay  £16,000  or  even  ;;f  1600  for  me. 
And  my  run  against  Stuart  consists  simply  in  the  observa- 
tion that  Lord  Weybridge  has  six  boys  to  provide  for." 

"What!  those  babies?  Why  the  eldest  is  not  eight 
years  old;  they  can  cost  him  nothing  but  a  few  yards  of 
stuff  for  their  frocks.  Children  can  be  clothed  and  fed 
for  nothing  now;  and  I  only  want  him  to  put  Stuart 
straight  with  the  world,  and  then  he  may  save  for  his  own 
children,  and  welcome." 

"  I  hope,"  said  La  Grange,  "  Colonel  Stuart  is  not  so 
much  indebted.  He  have  a  horse  which  will  run  at 
Doncaster,  and  have  taken  one  house  at  Melton." 

"  Yes,  quite  a  cottage.  I  know  he  has  given  up  the  large 
house  he  had  last  year  without  a  murmur;  and  as  for  his 
horse  at  Doncaster,  he  told  me  himself  that  he  is  sick  of 
the  turf,  but  he  thinks  it  his  absolute  duty  to  try  if  he  cannot 
recover  a  little  money  at  Doncaster." 

"  Ah,  then,  he  run  that  horse  just  for  a  matter  of  trade, 
as  a  lawyer  makes  a  speech  for  fee." 

"  Exactly,  that  is  his  view  of  the  case;  and  in  all  other 
respects  I  never  saw  a  creature  more  unselfish.  I  know 
he  came  here  with  only  a  pair  of  horses ;  he  has  withdrawn 
his  name  from  one  club,  if  not  more,  and,  except  his  riding- 
horses,  he  keeps  nothing  but  a  cabriolet." 

"  Ah !  that  cabriolet,"  said  Mr.  G. ;  "  now  that  is  one 
of  the  mysteries  I  wish  you  would  solve  for  me,  Lady  Port- 
more.  There  are  about  sixty  clerks  in  my  office,  most  of 
them  younger  brothers  of  good  family,  with  allowances 
of  two  or  three  hundred  a  year ;  and  by  writing  eight  hours 
daily  they  earn  another  hundred.  And  yet  two- thirds  of 
these  youngsters  keep  a  cab  with  a  high-stepping  horse 
and  a  diminutive  groom.  I  do  not  know  what  it  costs,  as  I 
never  indulged  in  such  a  luxury  myself;  but  I  presume  that 
above  half  of  their  income  goes  in  this  foolery." 


142  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

"  But  what  can  they  do?    London  is  so  large." 

"  Yes,"  said  La  Grange,  "  it  is  of  such  immense  grandeur ; 
and  without  a  cab  how  can  you  bring  yourself  out  of  the 
affair?  Suppose  yourself  with  a  visit  to  make  in  the  high 
end  of  Portland  Place,  how  would  you  get  there  from  the 
Travellers'  ?  " 

"  By  Regent  Street,"  said  Mr.  G.,  smiling. 

"  But  how?   I  beg  a  thousand  pardons." 

"  On  foot." 

"  Oh,  impossible,"  said  Lady  Portmore;  "  it  would  kill 
any  of  the  young  men  of  the  present  day  to  attempt  such  a 
walk ;  it  must  be  four  miles  at  least,  or  two,  or  some  immense 
distance.  No,  I  dare  say  a  cab  is  rather  an  extravagance; 
but  I  own  I  think  it  an  absolute  necessity." 

"  Yes,"  said  Lord  Beaufort;  "  I  do  not  see  what  a  man 
is  to  do  in  London  without  a  cab." 

"  No,"  said  Ernest,  "  I  quite  agree  with  you;  it  is  as 
indispensable  as  a  coat." 

*'  Exactly  so,"  said  La  Grange. 

"  I  am  quite  convinced  of  the  fact  by  this  unanimity  of 
opinion,"  answered  Mr.  G.  "I  am  only  thankful  I  was 
born  before  this  fatal  cabriolet  obligation  was  invented,  and 
that  I  am  able  to  walk  every  day  from  Grosvenor  Square  to 
Downing  Street,  and  back  again." 

"But  if  it  rains?" 

"I  put  on  my  greatcoat,  and  put  up  my  umbrella; 
and  it  is  curious  that  I  am  generally  accompanied  by  some 
man  of  my  own  standing,  and  that  at  every  crossing  we  are 
either  splashed  or  nearly  run  over  by  a  tribe  of  young  boys 
going  nodding  along  in  one  of  those  puppet-shows  on 
wheels.  However,  if  it  is  necessary,  I  say  no  more  ;  but  I 
am  not  surprised  to  hear  of  so  many  young  men  deeply  in 
debt  " ;  and  so  saying  he  walked  off  to  his  red  boxes  and 
his  Fisherwick. 

"  It  is  very  sad,  certainly,  and  G.  may  be  partly  right," 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  143 

said  Lady  Portmore;  "but  in  Stuart's  case  his  cabriolet 
is  an  actual  measure  of  economy ;  he  sold  those  magnificent 
carriage-horses  when  he  set  it  up.  I  must  repeat  that  I 
think  he  is  in  a  very  pitiable  position.  He  is  willing  to 
submit  to  every  sort  of  privation ;  but,  as  he  says,  what  is 
the  use  of  trying,  if  his  family  will  not  help  him?  " 

"  I  thought  his  mother  was  very  liberal  to  him." 

"  Yes,  she  makes  him  some  sort  of  allowance;  but  she 
does  not  do  all  that  he  expected.  And  that  is  where  I 
think  his  family  so  much  to  blame ;  they  help  him  only  to 
a  certain  extent.  And  that,  as  he  says,  puts  him  in  a  false 
position ;  he  gets  the  reputation  of  having  his  debts  paid 
over  and  over  again,  and  yet  he  is  never  so  entirely  clear  as 
to  feel  encouraged  to  live  economically.  No,  it  really 
makes  my  heart  bleed  to  think  of  all  those  selfish  Wey- 
bridges,  and  to  see  Stuart  so  unlike  himself." 

*'  Has  not  your  friend  Miss  Forrester,"  said  Lord  Beau- 
fort, "  a  great  share  of  Stuart's  low  spirits  to  answer 
for?  " 

"  If  you  mean  that  he  cares  about  her,"  said  Lady  Port- 
more,  "  that  is  what  he  never  did  and  never  will,  in  my 
opinion ;  but  at  one  time  he  had  certainly  a  good  right  to 
expect  that  she  would  marry  him,  and  it  is  a  great  pity  she 
did  not." 

"  She  jilted  him  in  the  coolest  manner  when  she  inherited 
that  fortune,  did  not  she?  "  said  Lord  Beaufort. 

"  Had  you  not  better  look  behind  that  screen,  Beaufort, 
before  you  proceed?  "  whispered  Ernest. 

"Pho!  nonsense,"  he  said;  but  he  started  from  his 
chair  as  he  spoke,  for,  leaning  against  the  door  of  the 
conservatory,  where  she  and  Eliza  had  gone  to  gather 
flowers,  stood  Mary  Forrester,  and  any  faint  hopes  which 
he  might  have  entertained  of  not  having  been  overheard 
were  dissipated  by  the  decided  measure  she  took  of  walking 
straight  up  to  the  table  and  addressing  him. 


144  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

"  This  is  the  second  time,  Lord  Beaufort,  in  which  I 
have  by  chance  overheard  you  accuse  me  of  the  most 
odious  conduct  to  Colonel  Stuart."  She  stopped,  appar- 
ently choked  by  the  violence  of  her  emotion ;  her  face  was 
pale,  but  hot  tears  of  shame  and  anger  stood  in  her  beaming 
eyes.  After  a  moment's  pause,  which  no  one  dared  to  inter- 
rupt except  La  Grange,  who  politely  pushed  a  chair  half 
an  inch  nearer  to  her,  she  passed  her  hands  rapidly  over 
her  face,  and  said  in  a  more  collected  tone,  "  But  this  is 
foolish,  I  am  speaking  as  if  I  were  angry  and  perhaps  I 
was  so,  for  a  minute.  At  all  events,  it  is  evident  that  I  am 
not  calm  enough  ;  not  enough  at  my  ease  to  make  a  good 
defence  against  your  charges.  But  Lady  Portmore  has  already 
borne  witness  that  I  never  possessed  the  affections  of  Lord 
Beaufort's  friend,  and  if  Lord  Beaufort  will  take  the  trouble 
to  ask  his  sister  how  and  when  I  became  aware  of  that 
fact,  she  has  my  free  leave  to  tell  him  all.  I  think  she  can 
exculpate  me  from  the  crime  of  jilting  Colonel  Stuart." 

"  I  am  sure,"  said  Lord  Beaufort — "  I  am  certain — that 
is,  I  have  no  right  to  ask  Helen." 

"Perhaps  not,"  she  said,  dejectedly;  "but  I  ask  it  as 
a  favour.  You  have  only  heard  and  repeated  the  state- 
ments oi  your  friend.  Hear  what  my  friend,  and  Helen 
is  my  real  and  best  friend,  has  to  say  for  me.  Perhaps  you 
will  still  think  me  to  blame;  but  I  think  your  persecution 
of  me,"  and  she  half  smiled,  "  will  not  be  so  constant  as 
it  now  seems  to  be."  Again,  there  was  a  short  pause;  she 
leant  with  both  hands  on  the  table  to  steady  herself,  for  she 
shook  with  timidity,  as  she  added,  "  I  am  ashamed  to  say 
so  much  about  myself,  but  the  fortune  that  is  supposed  to 
have  influenced  me  does  not  exist;  I  mean,  that  I  am 
not  the  heiress  Lord  Beaufort  thinks  I  am.  The  fortune 
is  not  mine  now — I  wish  every  one  to  know  that.  Now, 
Eliza,  let  us  go  " ;  and  so  swift  was  their  retreat,  that  no 
one  had  time  to  speak  before  they  were  fairly  housed  in  the 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  145 

next  room,  and  Eliza  had  thrown  her  arms  round  her 
friend's  neck,  and  given  way  to  the  burst  of  tears  which 
had  been  gathering  during  the  whole  scene,  while  she  said, 
"  Never  mind  them,  dear  Miss  Forrester,  it  is  all  ill-nature, 
and  they  had  much  the  worst  of  it  at  last." 

And  so  they  had :  there  never  was  a  more  discomfited 
set  of  people,  barring  La  Grange,  who  considered  himself 
in  high  luck  at  having  witnessed  such  a  scene :  it  was  an 
incident  quite  unmatched  in  his  English  recollections, 
and  he  was  only  longing  to  slip  away,  and  write  it  down 
before  he  lost  "  the  idiom  "  of  Miss  Forrester's  expressions. 
Lord  Beaufort  was  completely  overpowered;  even  Lady 
Portmore  was  annoyed,  for  though  she  knew  she  could 
never  be  in  the  wrong,  she  thought  she  might  have  been 
more  in  the  right  if  she  had  taken  Mary's  part  more 
decidedly:  but  she  was  the  first  to  speak.  "  Well,  this  is 
very  unlucky." 

"  Very,"  said  Ernest. 

"  Deuced  unlucky,"  said  La  Grange,  who  was  learned 
in  vulgar  English  expletives. 

"  I  hate  the  sort  of  thing,"  said  Lady  Portmore,  "  be- 
cause, though  I  said  nothing,  Mary  might  think  I  did,  and 
it  will  make  such  a  tracasserie.'^ 

"  Come,  Beaufort,  speak  up,"  said  Ernest,  patting  him 
on  the  shoulder. 

"  I  cannot,"  said  Lord  Beaufort,  rising  and  leaning  his 
head  against  the  chimney-piece.     "  It's  a  bad  business." 

"  It  certainly  is,"  said  Lady  Portmore;  "  and  those 
sort  of  scenes  take  away  one's  presence  of  mind  so,  or  else  I 
would  have  explained  it  all  to  Mary  at  once." 

"It  was  very  fine  though :  Mees  Forster  resembled  very 
much  Pasta,  in  Medea,  at  that  grand  moment  when  she  says 
'  lo ! '  "  added  La  Grange. 

"  Can't  you  send  him  away?  "  whispered  Lord  Beaufort 
to  Lady  Portmore. 


146  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

"  M.  La  Grange,  if  you  mean  to  go  out  shooting  to-day, 
there  are  all  the  keepers  now  on  the  lawn." 

"  Ah !  I  see.  Lady  Portmore,  you  do  think  my  chamber, 
I  mean  my  room,  better  than  my  company,  as  we  say  in 
England ;  and  I  dare  say  I  will  disturb  you  if  I  stay.  My 
lord,  do  not  distress  yourself;  when  Mees  Forster  think  it 
over,  she  shall  think  it  all  fudge  to  be  affronted  just  for  so 
few  words  " ;  and  with  a  hearty  laugh  at  the  excellence  of 
his  English  vulgarity,  which  harmonized  ill  with  the  feelings 
of  his  hearers.  La  Grange  walked  off. 

"  I  am  glad  he  is  gone,"  said  Lady  Portmore.  "  Do 
shut  the  door,  Ernest,  for  fear  he  should  hear  me  say  how 
detestable  he  is ;  and  now  what  are  we  all  to  do  ?  " 

"  We  have  done  enough  for  one  morning,"  said  Ernest. 

"  But  what  did  Mary  mean  by  the  second  time?  "  Lady 
Portmore  asked. 

"  Beaufort  gave  her  the  benefit  of  his  opinion  once 
before,  in  the  library,  when  she  was  in  the  gallery." 

"  No,  did  he?  Really  that  is  being  imprudent,  my 
dear  Beaufort;  and  what  distresses  me  particularly  is,  that 
Mary  came  in  just  when  she  did.  If  she  had  waited  a 
moment,  I  was  going  to  tell  you  that  the  engagement  or 
attachment,  or  whatever  it  was,  was  at  an  end  a  fortnight 
before  Mary  ever  heard  of  that  fortune,  and  that  she  gave 
Stuart  up  on  hearing  of  that  unfortunate  Mrs.  Neville.  In 
fact,  I  think  Mrs.  Neville  sent  her  some  of  Stuart's  letters, 
or  wrote  to  her,  or  something  of  that  kind." 

"  You  might  have  told  me  that  sooner.  Lady  Portmore, 
and  then  I  should  not  have  said  what  I  did." 

"  How  did  I  know  you  were  not  aware  of  it?  I  really 
think,  Beaufort,  the  scrape  is  entirely  your  own,  and  you 
need  not  try  to  draw  me  into  it.  Besides,  I  am  the  last 
person  in  the  world  likely  to  say  anything  against  Mary, 
who  I  am  sure  loves  me  better  than  anybody  upon  earth, 
though  she  did  call  Helen  her  best  friend ;  but  then  she  was 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  147 

angry.  Why,  I  brought  her  here,  you  know,  in  my  own 
carriage." 

"  It  is  rather  a  pity  you  did,"  said  Ernest,  "  as  things 
have  turned  out." 

"  Don't  joke  about  it,  Ernest,"  said  Lord  Beaufort,  "  for 
I  am  heartily  vexed,  and  that  is  the  truth.  It  does  look 
like  persecution,  as  she  said." 

"  She  came  forward  very  gallantly,"  said  Ernest.  "  I 
did  not  suspect  she  had  so  much  spirit.  We  all  looked 
remarkably  small,  I  thought." 

"  As  for  that,"  said  Lady  Portmore,  ''  I  must  beg  to 
say  that  I  did  not  look  the  least  put  out." 

"  My  dear  lady,  I  wish  you  could  have  seen  yourself; 
such  a  look  of  guilt !     I  expected  you  to  faint." 

"  Nonsense,  Ernest,  why  should  I?  I  was  taking  Mary's 
part;  at  least,  I  should  have  taken  it,  in  another  minute; 
but  for  fear  of  any  mistake,  I  shall  just  go  after  her,  and 
explain  to  her  that  I  was  quite  innocent  during  the  whole 
conversation." 

"  And  I  shall  go  to  Helen,"  said  Lord  Beaufort. 

"  And  I  shall  go  and  look  for  my  own  particular  little 
Miss  Douglas,"  said  Ernest.  "  She  looked  aghast  at  the 
sudden  breeze.  The  confidante's  look  of  horror  prevented 
me  from  giving  my  undivided  attention  to  the  principal 
performers.     I  shall  like  to  hear  what  she  thought  of  it." 

"  You  really  will  persuade  yourself  that  you  care  about 
that  little  Douglas  girl  if  you  carry  on  the  joke  much 
further,"  said  Lady  Portmore  in  a  vexed  tone.  "  Beaufort, 
I  would  advise  you  to  wait  a  little,  or  you  will  find  Mary 
with  your  sister." 

"  I  don't  very  much  care  if  I  do.  The  meeting  will  be 
awkward,  at  any  rate,  and  I  had  rather  have  it  over  when 
I  am  in  the  mood  to  say  all  that  is  humble  " ;  and  he 
walked  off. 

"It  is  rather  unfair  that  he  should  see  her  first,"  said 


148  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

Lady  Portmore,  "  so  I  shall  go  to  her  room,  and  see  if  she 
is  there." 

*'  And  when  you  have  both  exculpated  yourselves  for 
saying  too  much,"  said  Ernest,  "  will  you  add  in  a  note  that 
I,  according  to  my  praiseworthy  custom,  was  saying 
nothing.  ' 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

Lord  Beaufort  waited  some  time  in  his  sister's  room 
before  she  came  to  him.  She  had  been  with  Mary,  and 
had  heard  the  history  of  the  contretemps  of  the  morning, 
and  was  prepared  to  pacify,  and  explain,  and  smooth, 
and  conciHate,  till  all  should  be  peace  again.  Such  is  the 
daily  toil  of  the  mistress  of  a  large  country-house.  No 
laundress,  ironing  away  at  an  obstinate  row  of  plaits ;  no 
carpenter  planing  the  roughest  plank  of  wood ;  no  gardener 
raking  the  stoniest  soil,  has  half  the  trouble  she  has,  to 
maintain  a  smooth  surface  in  the  aspect  of  her  mixed 
society.  Nothing  more  is  asked.  They  may  all  hate,  all 
envy,  all  rival  each  other ;  they  may  say  everything  that  is 
ill-natured,  and  do  everything  that  is  mischievous,  but  the 
"  general  effect,"  as  painters  would  call  it,  must  be  harmony; 
and  this  must  be  maintained  by  the  tact  of  the  hostess. 

Such  an  outbreak  as  had  occurred  this  morning  was  an 
unusual  novelty;  and  Helen  must  quell  that  before  the 
parties  at  variance  met  at  dinner.  She  found  Lord  Beau- 
fort most  willing  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  deprecate  Miss 
Forrester's  resentment:  her  appeal  to  Helen  had  touched 
him,  and  as  he  hated  to  see  a  woman  in  tears,  her  struggle 
for  composure  had  excited  his  admiration  and  gratitude. 
And  when  he  heard  her  whole  history  he  found  further 
reason  for  regretting  what  he  had  said.  Mary  had  received 
Colonel  Stuart's  attentions  with  pleasure  during  the  time 
in  which  she  believed  him  to  be  attached  to  her,  and  until 
she  was  surprised  by  a  visit  from  a  Mrs.  Neville,  who  had 
good  reason  to  suppose  herself  the  object  of  Colonel  Stuart's 

149 


150  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

preference.  Driven  to  desperation  by  the  report  of  his 
marriage  to  Miss  Forrester,  she  adopted  the  decisive 
expedient  of  making  her  rival  her  confidante.  She  told 
her  story,  and  produced  her  vouchers,  in  the  shape  of  some 
of  Colonel  Stuart's  letters,  and  she  cried  over  them,  and  her 
own  guilt,  and  his  treachery,  and  Mr.  Neville's  wrongs; 
and  in  the  madness  of  her  passion  and  her  jealousy,  threw 
away  her  own  character,  her  pride,  her  delicacy,  all,  so 
that  she  could  prove  that  the  man  she  loved  was  a  villain. 
She  succeeded,  so  far  as  thwarting  Colonel  Stuart  in  his 
hope  of  marrying  Mary  could  be  called  success.  Whether 
disappointing  him  in  his  dearest  hopes  were  a  likely 
method  to  regain  his  affections  she  had  not  perhaps  con- 
sidered. Miss  Forrester  declined  a  continuance  of  Colonel 
Stuart's  attentions,  and  when  pressed  by  him  to  assign  a 
reason  for  her  change  of  manner,  she  frankly  pleaded  her 
knowledge  of  his  want  of  principle,  his  seduction  of  Mrs. 
Neville,  and  his  heartlessness  in  deserting  her.  He  flew 
into  a  violent  rage  with  Mrs.  Neville,  and  ended  by  being 
scarcely  less  furious  with  Miss  Forrester.  A  fortnight  later 
when  she  became  a  rich  heiress,  his  anger  turned  upon 
himself  for  having  quarrelled  so  completely  with  her,  and 
to  save  his  own  character  he  changed  the  date  of  their 
disagreement,  and  allowed  his  friends  to  suppose  that  her 
money  had  been  the  root  of  his  evil  fortune.  All  this  Helen 
repeated  to  Lord  Beaufort,  and  his  knowledge  of  all  parties 
gave  him  instant  conviction  of  the  truth  of  the  story. 
"  But  why  does  she  say  that  the  fortune  is  not  hers  now  ?  " 
"  That  is  a  point  she  would  be  unwilling  to  explain, 
but  that  she  is  anxious  it  should  be  understood  now  that 
she  is  not  an  heiress ;  and  she  imagines  that  it  is  ignorance 
on  this  subject  which  induced  Colonel  Stuart  to  follow  her 
here.  It  was  always  supposed  that  the  fortune  which  old 
Mrs.  Forrester  left  to  her  would  have  been  divided  between 
her  and  two  brothers:    one  is  in  the  West  Indies  with  his 


THE    SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  151 

wife,  and  the  other  at  sea.  From  some  scruples  about  the 
will,  not  worth  explaining,  Mary  is  convinced  that  her 
brothers'  claims  are  as  good  as  her  own;  at  least,  so  she 
chooses  to  say ;  and  as  she  came  of  age  two  months  ago, 
she  has  written  to  them,  giving  each  of  them  a  third  of  the 
property.  I  do  not  know  the  exact  sum,  but  I  believe  she 
will  have  nearly  ^^3 0,000  herself,  which  she  says  is  quite 
enough  for  her." 

"And  does  she  really  mean  to  give  away  ^^60,000? 
Well!  she  is  a  noble  creature;  I  am  in  the  humour  just 
now  to  give  her  credit  for  every  virtue  under  heaven; 
but  I  would  rather  not  see  her  again.  Can't  you,  dearest 
Nell,  make  the  humblest  apologies  for  me,  and  crown  the 
whole  by  saying  that  as  I  am  sure  she  must  hate  the  sight 
of  me,  I  have  taken  myself  off  to  London?  " 

"  Oh,  no !  dear  Beaufort,  you  do  not  really  mean  you 
are  going?    that  would  be  too  absurd." 

"  But  the  best  thing  I  can  do.  I  shall  look  so  foolish 
when  I  see  her ;  and  there  is  that  blockhead.  La  Grange, 
to  make  his  ungrammatical  remarks  on  us;  and,  as  I  said 
before,  she  must  hate  the  sight  of  me." 

"No,  indeed,  she  does  not!  perhaps  she  does  not  like 
you  much  at  this  moment,  but  it  will  all  soon  be  forgotten. 
She  is  now  waiting  for  me  in  my  garden,  to  which  she  went 
that  she  might  escape  poor  dear  Lady  Portmore." 

"  Ah!  it  is  more  than  half  Lady  Portmore's  fault.  She 
will  sit  gossiping  for  an  hour  over  the  breakfast-table; 
and  somehow  people  are  always  ill-natured  at  that  early 
time  of  the  day — bilious,  I  suppose ;  but  those  empty  egg- 
cups  and  dirty  plates  always  hear  a  great  deal  of  scandal, 
and  then  Lady  Portmore  likes  to  denigrer  her  dear  friends." 

"  Well,  never  mind  now;  come  with  me  to  the  garden, 
and  make  your  speech  of  regret,  etc." 

"  Oh,  no,  not  with  you,  Nell !  I  could  not  say  a  word  if 
you  were  standing  by." 


152  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

"  Well  then,  go  without  me." 

"  That  is  a  thousand  times  worse.  No,  the  whole  thing 
is  a  mess,  and  past  cure,  and  the  only  resource  is  for  me 
to  take  myself  off." 

"  Oh !  but  that  is  so  hard  upon  me,"  said  Helen,  with 
tears  in  her  eyes.  "You  must  stay,  darling";  and  she 
stooped  down  and  kissed  his  forehead. 

At  this  moment  Lord  Teviot  entered,  but,  seeing  how 
eagerly  they  were  conversing,  drew  back.  "  Oh,  come  in, 
Teviot,  pray  come  in !  " 

"  I  will  come  back  presently,  if  you  are  engaged." 

"  No,  I  am  not  engaged,  but  Beaufort  will  insist  on 
going  away  to-day;  and  I  cannot  possibly  let  him. 
Beaufort,  may  I  tell  Lord  Teviot  the  whole  story?  " 

"  Certainly,  my  dear,  if  you  like  to  repeat  such  a  foolish 
business." 

"  If  it  is  a  family  secret  my  curiosity  is  not  ungovernable ; 
I  had  no  idea  you  were  closeted  together  for  a  mysterious 
story,  or  I  would  not  have  interrupted  you." 

"But  it  is  no  secret,"  said  Helen;  and  she  told  him 
all  that  had  passed,  which  threw  him  into  such  fits  of 
laughter  that  Beaufort  began  to  think  the  matter  was  not 
so  serious  as  he  had  supposed. 

"  Then  you  advise  him  to  stay?  "  said  Helen. 

"  In  his  place  I  should  go,  but " 

"  There,  Helen,  you  hear  what  Teviot  says." 

"  You  did  not  let  me  finish  my  sentence,"  said  Lord 
Teviot.  "  I  was  going  to  add  that  you  cannot  possibly  go 
to-day,  because  you  promised  to  dine  with  the  Mayor  of 

N to-morrow,  and  your  going  away  would  be  an  affront 

to  him  and  to  G.  and  to  me,  etc.,  etc." 

"  Yes,    that    is    clear,"    said    Helen.     "  Long    live    the 

Mayor   of  N !     and   now,    Beaufort,    I   will   tell   you 

how  it  shall  all  be.  Mary  and  I  will  go  out  riding  with 
Ernest  only,  and  you  shall  join  us  accidentally,  and  make 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  153 

your  peace  while  Ernest  and  I  are  cantering  on  first; 
and  then  follow  us  directly.  You  and  Mary  will,  of  course, 
hate  each  other  for  the  rest  of  your  lives,  but  that  does  not 
signify.  So  now  it  is  all  settled.  You  are  going  to  drive 
Lady  Portmore,  of  course,  Teviot?  " 

"  Of  course,"  he  replied,  though  provoked  that  Helen 
took  it  so  coolly  for  granted. 

"  And  the  Douglases  are  going  to  pay  a  visit  in  the 
neighbourhood.  Mr.  G.  may  ride  with  us  if  he  likes; 
he  will  never  discover  any  little  treaty  of  peace  that  is 
made  under  his  eyes,  and  without  a  red  box.  The  rest  are 
out  shooting,  I  believe.  But  there  is  poor  Mr.  Fisherwick, 
something  really  ought  to  be  done  for  him." 

"He  is  quite  happy;  there  are  despatches  both  from 
Lisbon  and  Madrid;  quite  enough  to  keep  him  in  perfect 
content  till  dinner." 

"  Then  we  are  all  provided  for,"  she  said,  and  ran  off 
to  Mary.  Everything  came  to  pass  as  planned.  The  riding 
party  set  off.  Lord  Beaufort  surprised  them  by  a  clever 
ambuscade  from  the  stable  wall ;  he  told  Mary  he  had  been 
quite  mistaken  and  wrong  in  what  he  had  asserted,  and  was 
sorry  that  she  had  overheard  it.  Mary  agreed  with  him 
in  both  these  propositions,  and  said  she  should  think  no 
more  of  it,  which  was  a  bold  assertion.  He  begged  her  to 
forgive  him,  for  Helen's  sake,  and  hoped  she  would  shake 
hands  to  show  they  were  friends.  She  suggested  that  their 
shaking  hands  might  have  an  alarming  effect  on  the  nerves 
of  the  grooms  who  were  riding  behind  them,  but  she  for- 
gave him  with  all  her  heart;  and  then  she  contrived  to 
give  Selim  a  slight  touch  with  her  whip,  which  brought 
him  cleverly  up  to  the  rest  of  the  party ;  and  so  the  affair 
ended,  with  a  little  additional  dislike  on  the  lady's  side,  and 
some  irksome  recollections  on  the  part  of  the  gentleman. 

Lady  Portmore  had  already  seen  Mary,  and  proved  to 
her  that  she  had  not  such  a  friend  as  herself;  that  when  she 


154  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

had  said  Mary  was  cold-hearted,  she  meant  quite  the  reverse, 
and  so  on.  La  Grange  gave  one  or  two  mal-a-propos  laughs 
when  they  met  at  dinner,  which  were  put  down  by  acclama- 
tion, and  the  only  person  who  derived  unmixed  delight 
from  the  occurrence  was  Mrs.  Douglas.  Eliza  told  the  story 
to  her,  and  she  was  charmed,  because  it  enabled  her  to 
give  a  little  hit  at  all  parties.  She  hoped  it  would  cure 
Lady  Portmore  of  that  excessively  improper  practice  of 
sitting  gossiping  half  the  morning  with  the  gentlemen. 
She  knew  it  was  the  right  thing  to  say  that  Mary  had  not 
jilted  Colonel  Stuart,  but  somehow  she,  Mrs.  Douglas, 
should  never  get  rid  of  the  impression  that  she  had ;  and 
she  had  never  been  more  surprised  than  she  was  to  hear 
that  Mary  was  only  just  of  age.  She  looked  six-and- 
twenty  at  least,  and  if  Colonel  Stuart  were  her  only  lover, 
much  could  not  be  said  for  her  success  in  life.  She  only 
wondered  that  Lord  Beaufort  did  not  get  into  more  scrapes 
from  his  unguarded  way  of  talking ;  and  she  supposed  that 
if  Lady  Teviot  ever  could  believe  him  to  have  a  fault,  she 
could  not  be  much  pleased  at  finding  he  spent  his  mornings 
in  taking  away  the  reputation  of  her  friends.  Colonel 
Stuart  and  Fisherwick  were  the  only  people  not  in  the  secret ; 
the  first,  because  Lady  Portmore  had  not  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  talking  to  him,  and  Fisherwick,  because  he  had 
been  writing  from  ten  in  the  morning  till  the  dressing-bell 
rang,  when  he  took  a  run  in  the  dark,  round  the  shrubbery, 
and  came  down  to  dinner  looking  yellower  and  more 
narrow-chested  than  ever;  but  declaring  that  nothing 
agreed  so  well  with  "  us  official  men  "  as  plenty  of  fresh 
air  and  exercise. 

"  I  am  afraid  you  had  not  time  for  a  ride  to-day,  Mr. 
Fisherwick,"  said  Lord  Teviot,  civilly. 

"  No,  my  lord,  though  it  was  rather  an  idle  day  with 
me ;  but  I  indulged  in  a  charming  walk,  only  the  sun  was 
rather  low  "    (it  had  been  gone  down  about  an  hour) ; 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  155 

*'  but  he  had  a  ride,  I  was  happy  to  hear.  Exercise  is  so 
good  for  him  that  I  was  dehghted  to  find  our  despatches 
were  not  of  a  nature  to  keep  him  at  home  all  day." 

"  Exemplary  creature,"  murmured  Ernest;  "  why  have 
we  not  each  a  Fisherwick?  " 

Vain  wish,  unless  each  were  a  Cabinet  Minister.  There 
are  hours  in  which  the  devoted  lover  grudges  the  attend- 
ance on  his  mistress  which  keeps  him  from  Tattersall's; 
the  devoted  husband  expects  his  wife  to  attend  solely  to 
him,  and  even  the  devoted  parent  has  moments  in  which 
the  impulse  to  give  the  idolized  child  a  good  shake  is  almost 
irresistible.  All  have  their  provocations  and  their  fits  of 
doubt  and  impatience.  But  the  private  secretary  has  none. 
He  believes  his  chief  to  be  faultless,  and  his  official  plans 
unequalled.  He  identifies  himself  with  the  man  and  the 
system.  The  minister  and  the  red  boxes,  the  treaties  and 
the  bills,  the  blue  ribbon  and  the  red  tape,  the  members 
and  the  messengers,  are  all  part  and  parcel  of  what  he  calls 
public  life  ;  they  all  stand  on  the  same  line ;  he  looks  upon 
them  as  the  attributes  of  the  individual  who  has  made  him  a 
private  secretary ;  and  he  worships  and  writes. 

"  Remember  you  are  all  up  early  for  breakfast  to- 
morrow," said  Lord  Teviot  as  the  ladies  withdrew  at  night : 
"  we  must  be  off  in  good  time;  there  is  the  new  bridge  to 
open,  and  the  collation  to  eat,  and  G.'s  speech  to  hear,  and 
we  are  six  miles  from  the  scene  of  action.  Above  all  things, 
I  recommend  an  elaborate  toilette^  for  the  sake  of  my  friend 
the  mayor,  who  hoped  I  should  bring  a  '  smart  party.'  " 

"  An  awful  prospect !  Will  you  tell  my  servant  to  call  me 
the  day  after  to-morrow?  "  said  Ernest,  turning  to  the 
groom  of  the  chambers  as  he  walked  off  to  bed. 

Mr.  Phillips  was  too  well  educated  to  smile;  but  he 
thought  it  an  excellent  joke,  and  cut  it  over  again  on  his 
own  account  to  the  steward 's-room  boy,  which  made  all 
the  ladies'  maids  nearly  die  of  laughing. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

The  important  morning  came,  and  with  it  the  four 
carriages-and-four,  and  Lady  Portmore,  resplendent  in 
feathers  and  silks,  and  much  to  be  admired,  till  Helen 
came  in,  looking  like  a  genuine  angel,  so  soft  and  white 
and  bright.  It  is  difficult  for  the  unlearned  to  explain 
the  component  parts  of  a  becoming  dress,  but  some  of  the 
party  observed  that  the  embroidery  on  her  silk  pelisse 
must  have  been  done  at  Lyons,  to  which  Mrs.  Douglas 
subjoined  the  oracular  remark,  "  that  it  was  a  pity  that 
it  was  white  upon  white."  There  was  also  a  quantity  of 
shining  lace,  ordinarily,  I  believe,  termed  blonde,  floating 
about,  and  forming  an  admirable  cloud  for  the  angel  to 
float  on. 

"  Well,  Helen,  you  have  gone  and  done  it,"  said  Ernest. 

"Am  not  I  bien  mise  ?  ^^  she  said,  blushing;  "I  have 
really  taken  a  great  deal  of  pains  about  my  dress,  that  the 

people  at  N may  approve  of  Lord  Teviot's  taste.     You 

know  it  is  my  first  appearance  there." 

"  And  mine,"  said  Lady  Portmore. 

"  And  mine,"  added  Mrs.  Douglas,  in  a  tone  that  made 
everybody  laugh  except  Lady  Portmore,  and  she  went  on, 
never  minding. 

"  But,  my  dear  Helen,  we  must  not  expect  to  attract 
much  notice  to-day.     There  stands  the  real  lion." 

"  My  importance  as  a  lion  will  not  come  into  play  till  I 
begin  roaring,"  said  Mr.  G. ;  "  and  my  constituents  will 
be  glad  to  have  something  to  look  upon,  even  if  they  deign 
to  listen  to  me.     Really,  my  dear  Teviot,"  he  whispered 

156 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  157 

as  Helen  moved  on,  "  I  never  saw  such  perfection.  I 
cannot  take  my  eyes  from  her." 

Such  a  speech  from  any  other  man  would  have  given 
Lord  Teviot  a  jet-black  fit  of  jealousy,  but  it  delighted  him 
from  Mr.  G.,  who  had  established  a  right  to  make  a  little 
solemn  political  love  to  all  the  distinguished  beauties  of 
the  day,  and  it  was  by  no  means  a  mere  measure  of  custom 
and  courtesy.  He  was  as  busy  about  his  little  flirtations, 
and  as  absorbed  in  his  little  sentiments,  as  if  he  had  been  a 
Lord  Somebody  Something  just  gone  into  the  Guards,  and 
doing  his  first  London  season,  and  nobody  thought  it  odd. 
Half  the  women  in  London  unblushingly  paid  court  to 
him,  and  nobody  said  it  was  scandalous.  If  he  got  away 
from  the  House  of  Commons  and  came  to  a  party,  there 
was  a  sort  of  rustling  sensation  in  the  room,  and  two  or 
three  of  his  reigning  loves  immediately  got  up  and  made  a 
circle  round  him,  and  drew  their  chairs  close  to  his,  and 
hated  each  other,  and  were  as  eager  in  their  rivalries  as  if 
he  had  been  thirty  years  younger,  and  were  not  absorbed 
in  politics  eleven  hours  out  of  every  twelve. 

Lady  Teviot  had  taken  his  fancy  prodigiously,  and  his 
unrivalled  powers  of  pleasing  were  exerted  for  this  young 
creature  as  if  he  were  her  own  contemporary.  Again, 
Lady  Portmore  was  puzzled — in  another  point  she  was 
baffled.  She  wished  to  be  in  the  same  carriage  as  the 
hero  of  the  day,  but  a  Lord  and  Lady  Middlesex  had 
arrived  the  night  before,  solely  for  the  sake  of  attending  the 
ceremony.  They  were  a  remarkably  dull  couple — he,  a 
quiet,  magistraty  sort  of  man,  who  never  went  into  society 
except  on  a  great  county  occasion — she,  a  little  crooked 
woman,  with  an  unpretending  manner  and  a  mistaken 
bonnet;  but  with  all  these  drawbacks  his  peerage  was  a 
century  older  than  Lord  Portmore's,  and  upon  a  state 
occasion  like  this  precedence  must  have  its  rights:  so 
Lady  Middlesex  went  with  Lady  Teviot  in  her  carriage, 


158  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

which  also  contained  Mr.  G.  and  Lord  Teviot — the  Hon 
and  his  keeper.  Lady  Portmore  found  herself  actually 
doomed  to  the  second  carriage,  with  Mrs.  Douglas  at  her 
side  and  Lord  Middlesex  opposite  to  her,  and  La  Grange 
going  to  make  a  spring  at  the  fourth  place.  But  despair 
gave  her  energy,  and  she  called  to  Ernest  to  take  his 
seat. 

"  Thank  you,"  he  said,  "  but  I  hate  sitting  backwards; 
and  Miss  Douglas,  who  does  not  mind  it,  has  promised  to 
change  places  with  me  if  I  go  in  her  carriage." 

"  Indeed  I  never  did.  Colonel  Beaufort." 

"Well,  but  you  will,  I  know;  if  not,  I  shall  look  so 
frightfully  pale  that  it  will  spoil  the  show  and  distress  the 
Mayor.     Now,  let  us  get  in." 

"  Come  then,  Stuart,"  said  Lady  Portmore,  "  I  will 
have  you  here." 

Lord  Beaufort  and  Colonel  Stuart,  who  had  each  their 
reasons  for  wishing  to  avoid  the  carriage  which  contained 
Miss  Forrester,  both  hastened  forward,  and  at  last  Lady 
Portmore  was  gratified  by  Mrs.  Douglas's  declaration  that 
she  should  like  to  go  in  the  fourth  carriage,  which  had  the 
honour  of  conveying  her  husband ;  so  Lady  Portmore  had 
the  pride  of  being  escorted  by  three  gentlemen,  and  the 
pleasure  of  talking  to  them  all  the  way. 

The  delay  occasioned  by  these  arrangements  gave  the 
Teviot  carriage  some  little  advance,  and  the  cheers  with 
which  it  was  received  reached  Lady  Portmore's  ears 
when  she  was  in  the  midst  of  one  of  her  confidential 
harangues. 

*'  What  a  noise !  "  she  said.  "  All  on  G.'s  account,  of 
course;  he  is  so  extremely  popular.  I  often  tell  him  his 
head  will  be  turned.  How  they  are  cheering !  it  must  be 
for  him.     What  is  it  all  about?  " 

"  We  shall  be  in  the  thick  of  it  soon,"  said  Lord  Beaufort; 
"  they  are  trying  to  take  the  horses  off,  and  there  is  Teviot 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  159 

imploring  and  gesticulating  like  a  madman,  and  Helen 
standing  up  and  curtseying;   and  now  for  such  a  hurrah," 

A  fresh  mob  rushed  by.  "  Which  is  my  lord's  carriage 
— where  is  the  young  lady?  " 

"  There,  my  good  fellows.  Lady  Teviot  is  the  lady  in 
white." 

"  Why,  you  don't  suppose,"  said  Colonel  Stuart,  "  they 
will  go  and  take  that  estimable  little  hobgoblin,  Lady 
Middlesex,  for  a  bride?  " 

Another  cheer,  and,  as  the  carriages  moved  slowly  on, 
the  murmur  of  comments  on  my  lady's  beauty  and  my 
lord's  luck  reached  Lady  Portmore's  ears,  and  were  en- 
couraged by  Lord  Beaufort,  who  leaned  out  of  the  carriage 
and  talked  and  laughed  with  the  crowd,  much  to  their 
mutual  satisfaction.  Lady  Portmore  waxed  cross — wished 
she  had  known  it  would  be  such  a  mob,  she  would  not  have 
come ;  thought  they  had  better  wait  a  little,  that  the  dust 
might  subside ;  but  no,  on  they  went,  the  cheers  becoming 
louder  and  the  dust  more  opaque,  and  no  vanquished  king 
of  the  Huns,  chained  to  the  car  of  a  Roman  dictator,  could 
feel  his  degradation  more  sensibly  than  Lady  Portmore, 
following  unnoticed  in  Helen's  wake. 

At  last  they  arrived  at  the  entrance  of  the  bridge,  and 
there  stood  the  mayor  and  the  magnates  of  the  borough, 
with  white  staves  in  their  hands  and  white  ribbons  in  their 
button-holes,  and  white  scarves  over  their  shoulders ;  and 
Mrs.  Mayoress,  gorgeously  arrayed,  holding  a  bouquet  to 
present  to  Lady  Teviot;  and  the  young  mayors  and 
mayoresses  giggling  at  "  the  figure  papa  cut  with  a  white 
shawl  on,"  holding  bouquets  for  the  rest  of  the  company. 

The  bridge  was  decked  with  flags,  arches  of  laurel  were 
thrown  over  it,  and  a  barricade  had  been  thrown  across  it 
to  prevent  any  unhallowed  foot  from  profaning  the  pave- 
ment till  the  proper  moment.  There  was  a  dinner  ready 
to  be  eaten  at  one  end,  and  a  balloon  half  ready  to  go  up 


i6o  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

at  the  other.  The  carriages  had  all  arrived,  and  the  com- 
pany were  all  assembled.  Lord  Teviot  led  up  the  mayor 
and  mayoress  and  their  goodly  company,  and  introduced 
them  to  his  bride ;  and  Mr.  G.  accosted  them  all  with  the 
easy  cordiality  a  well-practised  member  knows  how  to 
assume — perhaps  really  feels,  though  that  is  doubtful.  He 
had  the  knack  of  remembering  their  private  histories  and 
family  connections,  and  was  strong  in  his  recollection  of 
Christian  names. 

"  Ah,  Dowbiggin,  glad  to  see  you ;  I  expected  you  would 
have  been  off  after  the  grouse.  Charles  Lloyd,  you  have 
been  beat  about  the  stone-coping  of  the  bridge,  I  am  glad 
to  see.  Taylor,  is  your  father  here?  What!  is  that 
Nathaniel  Curry?  you  have  been  living  on  the  fat  of  the 
land  since  last  I  saw  you.  William,  here's  the  sovereign  I 
owe  you — our  bet  about  the  steamer.  Mrs.  Dowbiggin, 
this  is  my  godson,  I  am  certain.  I  am  expressly  proud  of 
George  Dowbiggin,  Lady  Teviot;  I  must  beg  you  to 
admire  these  curls.  And  now  for  our  bridge;  it  is  a  very 
handsome  structure,  upon  my  word.  Lady  Teviot,  you 
are  to  be  the  first  to  put  your  foot  on  our  bridge.  Now 
for  it." 

The  procession  was  put  in  motion,  the  mayor  gave  a 
signal  with  his  wand,  the  flags  were  hoisted,  the  guns  went 
off,  and  the  band  at  the  other  end  began  playing  that 
original  and  unhackneyed  air,  "  See,  the  conquering  hero 
comes."  But  the  barricade  at  the  entrance  had  been 
made  so  particularly  firm  and  good  that  none  of  the 
committee  of  management  could  move  it,  and  it  seemed 
probable  that  there  would  be  a  regular  siege  before  the 
hero  could  either  come,  or  with  any  propriety  be  called  a 
conqueror.  The  agitated  mayor  waved  his  wand  wildly, 
and  called  for  the  clerk  of  the  works ;  but  he  had  gone  to 
assist  at  the  inflation  of  the  balloon,  and  was  in  his  turn 
storming  at  the  gas-man  for  the  inefficient  supply  of  gas. 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  i6i 

Still  the  band  went  on  playing;  still  the  barricade  stood 
firm;  and  still  the  balloon  remained  flaccid.  The  mayor 
tore  his  white  scarf  in  his  attacks  on  the  posts ;  the  mayoress' 
face  grew  scarlet,  but  she  periodically  made  little  pokes  at 
the  powerful  railing  with  the  white  ivory  handle  of  her 
parasol,  well  meant  but  ineffective.  La  Grange  proposed 
calling  for  boats,  and  attacking  the  bridge  from  the  other 
side.  "  Impossible,  quite  impossible,  my  dear  sir,"  said 
the  mayor;  "  the  boats  are  stationed  here  to  convey  the 
company  to  the  launch;  and  the  programme,  sir,  the 
programme  specifies  the  south  side  of  the  bridge." 

Happily,  before  the  scene  became  perfectly  ludicrous, 
the  real  carpenter  arrived,  the  obstacles  were  removed,  and 
the  company  advanced :  it  was  really  a  pretty  sight ;  the 
river  was  covered  with  boats — the  quays  and  the  adjoining 
buildings  with  people.  The  bridge  was  a  very  handsome 
structure,  and  no  pains  had  been  spared  to  make  the 
temporary  decorations  accord  with  the  occasion.  As  the 
procession  turned  to  walk  back  again,  the  balloon  rose  just 
at  the  proper  moment,  carrying  into  the  clouds,  for  the 
hundred  and  twenty-seventh  time,  the  adventurous  Mr. 
Brown,  who  assumed  his  most  picturesque  balloon  attitude 
in  bidding  farewell  to  the  old  world  and  the  new  bridge. 
The  supply  of  gas  had  been  purposely  stinted  to  save  the 
credit  of  young  Mr.  Theodore  Dowbiggin,  who  had 
announced  his  intention  to  become  "  an  intrepid  aero- 
naut," but  had  thought  better  of  it  as  the  time  drew  near. 
His  intrepidity  of  course  remained — that  being  a  quality, 
like  Dogberry's  reading,  that  came  by  nature — but  his 
aeronautcy  was  postponed.  The  well-paid  Brown  declared 
there  was  only  gas  enough  for  one,  and  the  well-instructed 
engineer  announced  the  impossibility  of  supplying  another 
spoonful.  Theodore  loudly  claimed  to  go  up  alone. 
Brown  stuck  to  his  balloon,  and  at  last,  as  the  papers 
announced,  the  high-spirited  young  man  was  borne  away 

L 


1 62  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

from  the  spot  by  actual  force,  and  the  balloon  rose  majes- 
tically, bearing  north-north-west,  and  was  lost  in  the 
clouds.  Not  really  lost:  there  is  no  occasion  for  alarm; 
it  was  found  again  two  hours  afterwards,  hopping  about 
on  Framlingham  Downs;  Brown  going  through  all  the 
usual  manoeuvres  of  throwing  out  ballast,  cutting  cords, 
dragging  anchors,  etc.,  and  extricating  himself  from  all 
sorts  of  perils,  from  which  he  was  eventually  rescued  by 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Wilcox,  who  was  taking  his  quiet  afternoon 
walk,  and  was  greatly  surprised  to  see  a  Brobdignag 
humming-top  skipping  about  his  path,  forty  yards  at  a 
skip.  Those  who  have  the  pleasure  of  knowing  Mr.  Wilcox 
will  not  doubt  the  readiness  of  the  humanity  with  which  he 
helped  Brown — first  to  get  out  of  his  balloon,  and  then  to 
catch  it — nor  the  hospitality  with  which  he  offered  him 
luncheon.  A  chaise  was  immediately  procured;  and 
Brown  and  his  balloon  were  carefully  packed  up  in  it  and 

on  it,  and  returned  to  N in  time  to  claim  the  last  shouts 

of  this  shouting  day. 

Much  had  been  done  in  the  interim — a  ship  had  been 
launched,  and  christened  The  Helen  by  Lady  Teviot;  the 
docks  had  been  surveyed,  and  the  whole  party  were 
assembled  at  dinner.  Lady  Portmore  had  contrived  to 
hook  herself  on  Lord  Teviot's  arm  for  the  walk,  which 
gave  her  an  opportunity  of  writing  the  next  day  to  all  her 
friends  that  she  had  been  universally  taken  for  the  bride; 
and  at  the  collation  she  very  cleverly  jockeyed  Lady 
Middlesex,  and  took  her  place  next  to  Mr.  G.  The  dinner 
had  been  laid  in  an  enormous  tent ;  and  as  it  was  a  morning 
fete,  it  had  been  arranged  that  the  ladies  should  remain 
and  hear  the  speeches. 

The  toasts  proceeded  in  the  usual  routine  without  any 
attempts  at  eloquence,  till  the  mayor  pronounced  a  mag- 
nificent oration  on  domestic  "  'appiness  in  the  'igher 
classes  "  and  the  nobility  in  general,  and  concluded  with 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  163 

proposing  Lady  Teviot's  health.  Air — "  Happy,  happy, 
happy  pair."  This  was  received  with  immense  applause, 
which  was  increased  by  the  sight  of  Lady  Teviot's  tears. 
She  did  not  know  exactly  what  to  do,  and  so  of  course 
began  to  cry,  but  in  a  gentle  becoming  manner,  though 
her  nervousness  increased  when  Lord  Teviot  got  up  to 
return  thanks.  She  had  never  heard  any  public  speaking, 
and  expected  that  he  would  be  unable  to  get  safely  through 
two  or  three  inaudible  sentences ;  therefore  his  gentleman- 
like easy  flow  of  thanks  struck  her  as  a  wonderful  display 
of  talent,  and  she  was  sorry  when  his  speech  ended,  though 
it  was  by  proposing  the  health  of  his  friend  Mr.  G.  Air — 
"Glorious  Apollo."  Immense  cheering;  and  when  that 
had  subsided  Glorious  Apollo  got  up,  and  with  a  slight 
hesitation  of  voice  and  manner,  as  if  he  had  not  an  idea 
what  he  was  going  to  say,  nor  how  to  say  it,  and  with  an 
air  of  extreme  surprise  and  gratitude  at  having  his  health 
drank  at  all,  he  started  off  in  a  brilliant  speech  that  lasted 
three-quarters  of  an  hour.  As  it  was  intended  less  for  the 
edification  of  his  present  hearers  than  for  an  answer  to 
the  attacks  of  the  Opposition  papers,  and  a  declaration 
of  an  important  change  in  the  commercial  relations  of  the 
country,  every  word  had  been  well  weighed.  It  had  been 
composed  and  revised  and  learnt  by  heart,  and  Fisherwick 
had  copied  it  over  five  times  with  variations;  but  Mr.  G. 
delivered  it  in  an  unstudied,  off-hand  manner,  that  gave 
it  the  air  of  a  sudden  burst  of  confidence  to  the  700  par- 
ticular friends  by  whom  he  was  surrounded.  And  by  an 
artful  allusion  to  the  balloon,  and  the  impracticable 
barricade,  and  one  or  two  trifling  events  of  the  morning, 
he  convinced  the  worthy  mayor  and  corporation,  who  were 
not  up  to  interpolations,  that  it  was  the  sudden  inspiration 
of  the  moment.  Innocent  creatures !  their  hearts  burned 
with  indignation  when,  on  the  following  week,  bitter  leading 
articles  dissected  and  misinterpreted  and  condemned  every 


1 64  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

word  of  this  speech ;  and  they  said  it  was  most  unfair  that 
Mr.  G.  should  be  tried  by  words  that  were  evidently  spoken 
on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  and  quite  in  confidence  to 
themselves. 

But  in  the  meantime  it  was  a  magnificent  display  of 
eloquence,  and  the  ladies  of  the  party  who  were  unused 
to  public  oratory  were  very  much  excited  by  it.  Even 
Mrs.  Douglas  owned  she  was  glad  to  have  heard  him  once : 
she  had  no  doubt  that  she  should  soon  get  used  to  the  sort 
of  thing,  and  see  the  fallacy  and  absurdity  of  long  speeches; 
but  for  this  once  she  had  really  rather  have  heard  it  than 
not,  even  though  she  had  had  the  most  uncomfortable  bench 
to  sit  on  that  she  had  ever  met  with  in  her  life,  and  though 
she  was  half  starved  in  consequence  of  the  waiter  having 
whisked  away  her  soup  before  she  had  touched  it.  Lady 
Portmore  took  joy  on  the  occasion,  in  consequence  of  her 
having  always  prophesied  that  G.  would  make  a  capital 
speaker;  and  she  could  also  venture  to  assert  that  his 
notions  about  trade  were  safe,  and  to  be  depended  on,  and 
she  approved  highly  of  what  he  had  said.  Mr.  G.,  who 
liked  a  joke,  contrived,  by  an  allusion  to  foreign  politics, 
to  bring  up  La  Grange,  who  was  longing  to  astonish  the 
natives  by  the  purity  of  his  English,  and  made  a  speech 
which  in  some  respects  was  satisfactory,  though  he  told 
them  that  the  opening  of  the  bridge  was  the  finest  imposi- 
tion he  had  ever  seen,  that  he  should  always  consider  that 
day  the  handsomest  day  of  his  life ;  that  he  was  not  to  be 
regarded  upon  as  a  stranger,  though  he  had  never  seen 
them  before,  for  that  he  was  as  perfectly  their  compatriot 
in  heart  as  in  language ;  that  it  was  his  pride  to  be  taken 
in  as  an  Englishman  wherever  he  went ;  and  that  from  the 
bottom  of  his  heart  he  drank  their  excellent  healths. 

The  day  concluded  as  satisfactorily  as  it  had  begun; 
Fisherwick  came  home  slightly  elevated,  and  so  elated 
with  the  dinner  and  the  speech,  that  after  asking  each  of 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  165 

the  company  individually  whether  they  had  ever  heard 
anything  so  fine  in  their  lives,  he  found  himself  strong 
enough  to  read  half  a  paragraph  of  an  Opposition  journal 
which  contained  a  violent  attack  on  his  idol,  and  to  rub 
his  hands  friskily  while  he  hummed,  Ca  m'est  egal. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

The  day  after  this  fete,  Helen  received  a  letter  from 
her  mother  that  alarmed  her  much.  Lady  Eskdale  thought 
Sophia's  recovery  far  from  satisfactory;  she  was  weak  and 
low,  with  a  tendency  to  a  cough,  and  was  anxious  to  be 
moved  to  Eskdale  Castle,  which  she  thought  agreed  with 
her  better  than  any  other  place,  and,  above  all  things,  she 
wished  to  see  Helen.  "  I  must  go  to  her,"  thought  Lady 
Teviot;  "  there  can  be  no  difficulty  about  it.  Mr.  G. 
goes  to-morrow,  and  the  Douglases  the  next  day,  and  I 
am  sure  Lady  Portmore  has  been  here  long  enough,  and  if 
she  goes,  there  will  only  be  some  gentlemen  left;  and 
Lord  Teviot  may  do  very  well  without  me,  at  all  events, 
for  a  few  days.  Beaufort  could  go  over  to  Eskdale  with 
me."  She  did  not  like  to  investigate  how  much  or  how 
little  she  wished  that  some  of  their  party  should  insist 
on  remaining  at  St.  Mary's,  so  as  to  keep  Lord  Teviot  at 
home ;  but  she  went  the  length  of  thinking  that  he  would 
be  bored  in  a  house  where  there  was  illness,  and  that  she 
would  be  more  useful  to  Sophia  if  she  went  without 
him. 

She  was  pursuing  this  train  of  thought  when  he  entered 
the  room  so  suddenly  as  to  startle  her.  She  threw  her 
handkerchief  over  the  letter  she  was  writing  to  her  mother, 
hardly  knowing  why,  but  she  always  had  in  Lord  Teviot's 
presence  the  painful  consciousness  that  her  feelings  towards 
her  family  would  be  misunderstood  or  condemned.  Per- 
haps she  was  wrong  in  dwelling  on  this  idea,  perhaps  he 
was  wrong  in  the  manner  that  gave  rise  to  it;    but  so  it 

166 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  167 

was,  and  this  difference  of  feeling,  with  which  their  married 
Hfe  had  commenced,  was  every  day  creating  and  increasing 
fresh  misunderstandings.  Lord  Teviot  was  so  distractedly 
in  love  with  his  wife  that  the  greatest  devotion  on  her  part 
would  hardly  have  satisfied  him ;  he  had  never  had  brothers 
or  sisters  of  his  own,  and  had  no  clue  in  his  own  life  or 
feelings  that  could  lead  him  to  judge  of  the  strength  of 
early  family  affection.  Helen  was  all  in  all  to  him,  and  he 
expected  to  be  the  same  to  her.  She  was  too  young  and 
guileless  to  affect  what  she  did  not  feel,  and  too  inex- 
perienced to  trace  to  their  right  source  the  variations  of 
Lord  Teviot's  temper.  She  had,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
begun  to  fear  him  before  her  marriage ;  and  this  fear  had 
been  increased  rather  than  diminished  by  his  subsequent 
conduct.  She  saw  that  he  was  courteous  and  attentive  to 
other  women;  therefore,  the  taunts  and  reproaches  which 
he  occasionally  vented  on  her  she  imputed  to  dislike,  and 
his  want  of  sympathy  in  her  affection  for  her  family  she 
ascribed  to  a  desire  to  make  her  unhappy.  She  was  totally 
unable  to  imagine  that  he  could  be  jealous  of  sentiments 
so  natural  and  right  in  themselves;  for  Helen  was  still 
almost  a  child,  and  the  obliquities  and  injustices  of  strong 
passions  were  incomprehensible  to  her.  She  would  have 
been  surprised  if  she  had  known  the  trifles,  the  absolute 
nothings,  by  which,  in  the  course  of  every  day,  she  roused 
or  irritated  his  jealousy — how  he  brooded  over  a  careless 
word  or  a  negligent  look — how  he  tortured  a  kindness  to 
another  into  an  insult  to  himself,  and  an  enjoyment  into 
which  she  entered  without  him  into  a  misery  purposely 
inflicted  on  him.  And  numerous  as  were  the  little  re- 
proachful scenes  that  passed  between  them,  she  would  have 
blessed  her  good  fortune  if  she  had  known  how  many  more 
she  had  escaped — if  she  had  guessed  the  long  array  of  her 
crimes  and  his  wrongs,  that  he  drew  up  against  her,  and 
which  were  not  poured  out,  because  some  gentle,  careless 


1 68  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

word  of  hers  changed  the  current  of  his  thoughts,  and 
turned  his  rage  to  love. 

He  had  now  come  to  her  with  a  proposition  which, 
whatever  interest  it  might  have  in  itself,  was  important  to 
him  principally  as  a  trial  of  his  wife's  feelings :  it  was  one 
of  those  measures  by  which  statesmen  say  they  will  stand 
or  fall. 

"  Helen,  I  have  been  all  the  morning  with  G.,  transacting 
business,  as  the  newspapers  would  call  it.  Do  you  remem- 
ber Beaufort's  prophecy  about  me?  " 

"What,  that  Mr.  G.  would  bring  you  into  office?  Is 
that  really  settled?  I  am  so  glad.  And  what  are  you 
to  be?" 

"  Nothing  can  be  absolutely  settled  till  Parliament 
meets,  when  I  am  probably  to  succeed  Lisle,  who  takes  the 
Privy  Seal ;  but  in  the  meanwhile,  G.  has  another  employ- 
ment for  me — one  that  I  was  at  first  unwilling  to  under- 
take.    I  hardly  know  what  you  will  say  to  it." 

"  I  know  so  little  on  those  subjects,  that  I  am  afraid  you 
cannot  consult  a  less  good  adviser.    But  tell  me  what  it  is." 

"  He  wants  to  send  me  off  on  a  special  mission  to  Lisbon." 
He  looked  earnestly  at  her  as  he  spoke,  and  his  heart 
swelled  as  he  waited  for  her  answer.  He  was  divided 
between  his  wish  to  hear  the  degree  of  concern  she  would 
express  for  his  departure,  and  his  latent  hope  that  she 
would  insist  on  accompanying  him. 

"  To  Lisbon!  Oh,  Teviot,  what  an  odious  plan !  What 
can  make  him  think  of  sending  you  to  that  hot,  dusty 
place  ?  I  do  not  like  it  at  all.  But  a  special  mission  entails 
only'a  short  stay,  does  it?  It  is  merely  going  out  with  a 
message  and  coming  back  again?  " 

"  Something  like  that;  the  business  may  be  concluded 
in  a  fortnight,  or  I  may  be  detained  there  a  month,  and  then 
the  passage  to  and  fro  will  take  perhaps  a  week  each  time." 

"The  passage!     Yes,  and  that  dreadful  Bay  of  Biscay 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  169 

to  cross,  too.  Well,  I  think  it  much  the  worst  arrangement 
that  could  have  been  made.  And  have  you  actually 
consented  to  it?  " 

"  Very  nearly.  I  said  I  would  first  consult  you;  but  I 
do  not  see  how  I  can  well  refuse." 

"  And  when  are  you  to  go?  " 

"  Immediately;  I  must  be  off  in  less  than  a  week  if  I 
am  to  be  of  any  use.  That  does  not  leave  much  time  for 
preparation."  He  looked  wistfully  at  her,  for  her  words 
had  been  so  vague,  he  was  still  in  doubt  as  to  her 
intentions. 

"  No  time  at  all.  In  every  respect  it  is  a  bad  scheme, 
except,  to  be  sure,  in  one  point," — and  she  brightened  as 
she  spoke.  "  If  it  is  to  take  place  so  soon,  our  company 
must  all  leave  us  directly." 

"Of  course." 

"Well,  then,  I  should  be  very  dull  here  without  you; 
and  I  should  naturally  pass  the  six  weeks  of  your  absence 
with  my  own  people.  Mamma  writes  me  word  that 
Sophia  is  very  unwell  and  wants  to  see  me ;  and,  indeed, 
when  you  came  in,  I  was  just  on  the  point  of  sending  for 
you  to  ask  when  we  could  go  to  her." 

"  Go  now — this  afternoon,  if  you  like.     Please  yourself." 

Helen  looked  at  him,  and  saw  that  one  of  his  blackest 
clouds  had  come  over  his  countenance.  She  went  on  in  a 
hurried  voice : 

"  No,  not  now;  if  you  are  to  go  so  soon,  I  should  like  to 
be  with  you  till  the  last  moment,"  and  she  took  his  hand 
as  she  spoke. 

"  I  can  go  before  the  end  of  the  week  if  it  will  be  any 
convenience  to  you  ";  and  he  coldly  withdrew  his  hand. 
"  I  have  half  a  mind  to  go  up  to  town  with  Lady  Portmore 
and  Miss  Forrester  the  day  after  to-morrow." 

"  Mary  is  going  with  me  to  Eskdale — at  least,  mamma 
asks  her  to  come." 


1 70  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

"  Well,  then,  I  shall  go  with  Lady  Portmore;  she  will  be 
the  more  glad  of  my  company."  He  got  up,  and  walked 
moodily  up  and  down  the  room.  "  You  must  have  had  a 
wonderful  foreknowledge  of  my  prospects,  for  you  seem  to 
have  arranged  all  your  plans  with  the  certainty  that  I 
should  not  be  here  to  interfere  with  them." 

"  Indeed,  I  have  arranged  nothing.  I  have  not  even 
asked  Mary  if  she  will  go  with  me ;  and  I  never  could  have 
guessed  or  believed  that  you  would  go  off  to  Lisbon  in  this 
sudden  way." 

"  I  have  surpassed  your  fondest  expectations,  evidently, 
and  given  you  a  most  agreeable  surprise ;  but  another  time 
you  shall  have  a  longer  notice  of  my  departure,  that  you 
may  be  able  to  get  up  a  little  show  of  feeling  on  the  occasion. 
You  know  it  is  usual,  it  is  considered  to  be  really  almost 
indispensable  to  affect — only  to  affect — nobody  would  be  so 
unreasonable  as  to  expect  you  to  feel ;  but  you  should  affect 
some  slight  regret  that  your  husband  is  going  to  leave  you." 

"  I  need  not  affect  it,"  she  said  in  a  low,  broken  voice. 
"  I  am  very  sorry  you  will  go." 

"  How  flattering !  it  is  a  pity  you  did  not  think  of 
mentioning  it  sooner." 

"  I  did  say  so,"  she  whispered  through  her  tears.  '*  I 
told  you  from  the  first  I  disliked  your  going." 

"  I  had  not  the  good  fortune  to  hear  you;  you  hardly 
think  it  worth  while  to  raise  your  voice  upon  such  an 
immaterial  point  as  my  coming  or  going.  And  moreover, 
I  might  have  thought  that  you  did  not  approve  of  the 
expedition  on  your  own  account;  not  that  I  did  think  so 
for  a  moment.  I  am  cured  of  that,  but  many  husbands 
would  have  expected  that  their  wives  would  insist  on 
accompanying  them." 

"  Do  you  wish  me  to  go  with  you?  "  and  Helen  felt  that 
she  ought  to  have  offered  to  do  so.  "  If  you  do,  I  can  be 
ready  in  time." 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  171 

"  No,  no,  it  is  too  late.  I  do  not  wish  you,  Lady  Teviot, 
to  give  yourself  any  trouble  on  my  account.  I  am  the  last 
person  in  the  world  to  be  gratified  by  a  sacrifice.  I  have 
known  all  along,  that  you  did  not  care  for  me,  that  you 
never  have  cared  for  me  :  and  if  I  had  wanted  any  further 
proof  of  the  fact,  I  have  been  amply  furnished  with  it  in 
this  conversation.  No  protestations,  I  beg,  but  leave  me 
the  pleasant  conviction  that  in  going  abroad  without  you  I 
am  for  once  doing  what  you  like." 

"  You  are  unjust,  Teviot,  you  know  you  are." 
*'  I  do  not  know  it.  I  appeal  to  yourself.  Are  you  not 
in  your  inmost  soul  delighted  that  I  am  going  ?  How  should 
it  be  otherwise?  Is  there  one  of  the  name  of  Beaufort 
whom  you  do  not  love  a  thousand  times  better  than  me? 
I  might  ask,  have  you  ever  loved  me  at  all?  Why,  did  I 
not  see  you,  in  this  very  room,  almost  go  down  on  your 
knees  to  your  brother,  to  persuade  him  to  stay  a  few  more 
days  ?  and  when  I  tell  you  I  am  going  away  for  six  weeks, 
your  countenance  absolutely  brightens;  you  almost  said 
you  were  glad  of  it." 

"  Not  glad  that  you  were  going;  indeed  I  am  not;  but 
glad  that  I  might  go  to  Sophia  without  inconvenience  to 
you.  Indeed,  Teviot,  my  sister  is  very  ill.  If  you  will  read 
mamma's  letter,  you  will  see  that  I  had  good  reason  to  be 
absorbed  in  that  when  you  came  in." 

"  It  is  no  business  of  mine,  why  should  I  read  it?  " 
"  That  you  may  see  how  ill  poor  Sophia  is." 
"  I  do  not  want  to  know  anything  about  it,"  said  Lord 
Teviot,   who   had  worked   himself  up   into   such  a   rage 
that  he  hardly  knew  what  he  said.     "  I  scarcely  know 
Lady  Sophia ;  why  should  I  care  whether  she  is  ill  or  well  ?  " 
Helen's  tears  stopped  instantly,  and  she  gave  him  a  look 
of  indignation  which  startled  him.     It  was  the  first  he  had 
ever  seen.     "Why  indeed?     No,  it  was  foolish  of  me  to 
expect  you  would." 


172  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

She  tore  up  her  mother's  letter  as  she  spoke,  and  then, 
bending  down  over  her  own,  employed  herself  with  apparent 
eagerness  in  the  attempt  to  finish  it ;  but  her  hand  trembled, 
and  though  her  face  was  concealed,  her  round  graceful 
throat  was  burning  red,  and  the  beatings  of  her  full  heart 
might  almost  be  heard  as  she  leaned  against  the  table.  Lord 
Teviot  had  done  more  towards  losing  his  wife's  affection  by 
these  few  words  than  by  all  the  taunting  speeches  he  had 
ever  addressed  to  her.  Her  natural  gentleness  and  sweetness 
of  temper  enabled  her  to  bear,  with  grief  indeed,  but  without 
resentment,  his  starts  of  violence  towards  herself;  but 
causeless  unkindness  to  her  sick  sister  she  could  not  endure. 

The  utmost  she  could  do  was  to  keep  silence,  but  perhaps 
she  wished  he  might  repeat  his  question,  "  Have  you  ever 
loved  me?  "  that  she  might  answer,  "  If  I  ever  did,  I  do 
not  now."  But  he  saw  he  had  gone  too  far,  and  a  long 
silence  ensued ;  she  finished  her  letter,  folded  and  directed 
it;  still  he  walked  up  and  down  the  room.  She  wished 
he  would  go.  She  wished  somebody  would  come  in ;  she 
should  not  have  objected  to  hear  that  the  house  was  on 
fire;  a  slight  earthquake  would  not  have  been  unaccept- 
able, so  that  this  scene  might  come  to  an  end.  At  last 
the  bright  thought  occurred  to  her  of  ringing  for  a  lighted 
taper,  and  desiring  the  servant  to  wait  while  she  sealed  her 
letters;  and  Lord  Teviot,  who  was  by  this  time  as  eager 
for  a  finale  as  she  was,  took  that  opportunity  to  withdraw, 
merely  saying,  "  Well,  I  shall  tell  G.  I  accept,  and  shall 
name  Tuesday  as  my  day." 

"  As  you  please,"  she  answered,  without  looking  at  him; 
and  he  departed.  The  servant  followed  with  the  letters, 
and  Helen  threw  herself  back  on  the  sofa,  and  gave  herself 
up  to  melancholy  and  a  bad  headache. 

At  dressing-time  she  was  obliged  to  account  for  her  wan 
appearance  to  Mrs.  Tomkinson,  who  was  afraid  her  lady- 
ship was  not  well,  she  looked  "  so  bad." 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  173 

"  I  am  very  uneasy  about  Lady  Sophia,  who  is  ill." 

"  Dear  me !  I  am  so  sorry  :  I  hope  her  ladyship  is  not 
dangerous." 

"  Not  dangerously  ill,  you  mean.  No,  I  trust  not,  but 
I  am  very  anxious  to  see  her,  and  I  shall  go  and  meet  her 
at  Eskdale  on  Tuesday,  so  you  must  have  everything  ready 
for  that  morning." 

"  Yes,  my  lady;  does  my  lord  go  with  us?  "  This  was 
asked  in  a  stiff,  affronted  tone.  "  Mr.  Phillips  was  speaking 
at  the  tea  of  my  lord's  being  going  to  London  on  Tuesday, 
but  I  suppose  he  meant  Eskdale  Castle." 

"  No,  my  lord  has  business  in  London.  Give  me  my 
gloves  and  some  Eau  de  Cologne,  my  head  aches  so 
much." 

"I  wish  your  ladyship  would  let  me  bring  you  some 
dinner  up  here,  and  keep  quiet  against  the  evening.  Them 
lights  and  all  that  clatter  will  be  so  bad  for  your  head : 
just  lie  down  for  an  hour,  my  lady." 

"  Well,  perhaps  it  will  be  the  best  thing  I  can  do." 

"  There's  my  lord's  room  door  just  gone  to.  Shall  I 
call  his  lordship,  and  you  tell  him,  my  lady,  that  you  don't 
feel  well?" 

"  No,  no,  don't  call  him.  There  is  no  use  in  making  a 
fuss  about  a  headache.  My  handkerchief,  Tomkinson,  I 
will  go  down  " ;  and  she  went. 

"  Well,  if  my  lord  has  not  turned  out  a  brute  at  last, 
I'm  much  mistaken,  and  that  is  what  I  never  was  yet.  I 
wish  we'd  never  seen  him;  and  to  think  of  him,  indeed, 
lording  it  over  my  lady,  who  is  too  good  by  half  for  him. 
See  if  I  don't  tell  them  all  at  Eskdale  what  he  is ;  and  yet 
I  won't  neither,  for  Lady  Walden's  maid  is  always  casting 
up  to  me  how  happy  her  lord  and  lady  is.  And  as  for 
letting  her  have  a  triumph,  I  am  not  so  mean  as  that 
neither.  As  for  Lady  Sophia's  illness,  I  don't  think  much 
of  that.     She  was  always  a  one  for  making  much  of  a  little, 


174  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

and  I  think  my  lady's  headache  is  all  my  lord's  monstrous 
crossness.  However,  I  shall  put  up  my  lady's  very  best 
gowns,  just  to  make  them  think  we  are  very  happy.  My 
lord  is  rich,  that  nobody  can  deny  ";  and  with  this  conso- 
lation Mrs.  Tomkinson  descended  to  the  housekeeper's 
room. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

When  the  party  were  assembled  for  dinner,  Lord 
Teviot's  appointment  and  consequent  departure  for  Lisbon 
seemed  to  be  generally  known;  indeed,  so  generally,  that 
even  Fisherwick  ventured  to  make  some  dark  allusions  to 
it.  Mr.  G.  asked  Lady  Teviot  to  thank  him  for  sending 
her  lord  on  such  an  interesting  little  expedition,  and  by 
not  finding  out  her  headache,  nor  appearing  to  think  she 
could  be  out  of  spirits,  did  more  for  her  recovery  than 
Lady  Portmore  with  all  her  condolences.  She  was  in 
her  greatest  glory,  and  unusually  overpowering.  She 
had  been  fully  occupied  during  dinner  by  admiration  of 
her  own  propriety  in  not  allowing  Teviot  a  place  in  her 
carriage  for  the  journey  to  London,  which  was,  she  said,  a 
very  different  thing  from  going  out  with  him  in  the  phaeton 
at  St.  Mary's;  and  also  by  giving  him  instructions  for  his 
conduct  at  Lisbon ;  and  her  opinion  of  the  state  of  parties 
there.  Her  advice  was  excellent  after  she  had  been 
rescued  from  a  general  confusion  of  Spain  and  Portugal, 
and  from  a  particular  predilection  for  the  anti-English  party 
at  Lisbon,  which  she  said  was  a  mistake  she  had  been  led 
into  by  having  lately  talked  over  the  subject  with  an 
Opposition  member;  but  otherwise,  she  added,  she  knew 
more  of  Lisbon  than  anybody,  and  she  had  really  half  a 
mind  to  make  Portmore  run  over  there  in  his  yacht, 
that  she  might  assist  Lord  Teviot  in  doing  the  honours. 

"  Yes,  pray  do,"  he  said,  in  hopes  that  Helen  might 
hear;  "you  cannot  have  a  pleasanter  trip,  and  it  will 
give  me  a  brilliant  start  in  my  diplomatic  career." 

175 


176  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

"  Well,  then,  let  us  make  a  party.  Ernest,  will  you  go 
to  Lisbon  while  Teviot  is  there  ?  Portmore  and  I  are  going 
over  in  our  yacht,  and  we  will  take  you  if  you  like  to  go." 

"  Not  I ;  what !  go  tossing  about  the  Bay  of  Biscay  in 
October  in  that  cockle-shell !  I  think  I  see  myself.  No, 
thank  you;  besides,  my  noble  soul  scorns  the  thought  of 
being  merely  one  of  Teviot's  suite." 

"  Ver  good,"  said  La  Grange,  "  but  more  bitter  than 
sweet.  There,  I  have  make  one  pon.  I  say.  Lady  Portmore, 
the  colonel  is  more  bitter  than  sweet;  that  is  two  pons." 

''  I  doubt,  M.  la  Grange,  whether  you  understand  the 
colonel  better  than  I  understand  puns.  I  think  that  man 
much  too  detestable,"  said  Lady  Portmore  to  Lord  Teviot, 
"  and  I  see  clearly  I  am  in  a  sad  scrape  with  Ernest.  The 
truth  is,  I  have  neglected  him  rather  shamefully,  consider- 
ing that  he  came  here  purposely  to  meet  me;  but  he  will 
soon  come  into  good  humour  again.  Beaufort,  will  you 
join  our  party?  " 

"  I  object  to  that,"  said  Helen,  looking  up  with  sudden 
animation.     "  Beaufort  is  going  home  with  me." 

That  one  word  was  enough  to  explain  to  the  refined  ears 
of  most  of  her  hearers  how  matters  stood  between  the 
husband  and  wife.  It  was  discord  to  Lord  Teviot,  grief  to 
Lord  Beaufort  and  Mary,  but  music  to  Colonel  Stuart,  who 
was  seated  by  Helen,  and  at  that  moment  thought  "  My 
time  is  come." 

"  I  fear  Lady  Sophia's  health  must  make  it  necessarily 
only  a  family  party  at  Eskdale,"  he  said  in  his  softest 
tones,  "  or  I  would  accept  an  invitation  your  father  was  so 
good  as  to  give  me.  I  have  been  almost  afraid  to  ask  what 
your  account  was  this  afternoon?  " 

"  Not  good,  certainly;  but  perhaps  I  see  things  en  noir 
to-day.  At  all  events,  the  less  we  talk  about  it  the  better ; 
but  you  would  do  wisely.  Colonel  Stuart,  to  put  off  your 
visit  to  Eskdale  till  it  would  be  a  less  dull  one." 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  177 

"It  never  could  be  dull;  but  whether  it  ever  would 
be  a  wise  measure,  is  more  than  I  can  say."  His  looks 
were  intended  to  explain  his  oracular  words,  but  Helen 
was  too  innocent  to  understand  them.  She  had  yet  to 
learn  that  the  first  moment  in  which  a  woman  lets  it  appear 
that  she  and  her  husband  are  at  variance  is  the  last  in  which 
she  is  safe  from  the  impertinent  admiration  of  others ;  and 
Colonel  Stuart's  looks  and  words  were  alike  thrown  away. 
Her  mind  was  full  of  her  own  unparalleled  griefs  and 
wrongs.  She  was  not  sure  she  had  been  right  in  saying 
what  she  knew  would  vex  Lord  Teviot ;  but  she  felt  rather 
the  better  for  it  too,  and  she  was  enabled  to  get  through 
the  remaining  time  at  dinner  without  bursting  into  tears. 

The  conversation,  in  defiance  of  Mr.  G.'s  attempts  to 
give  it  another  turn,  would  revert  to  Lisbon.  Fisherwick 
shrugged  and  signalled  and  whispered  to  La  Grange,  "  I 
wish  they  would  be  a  little  more  prudent  before  the 
servants.  I  see  he  is  quite  distressed.  The  Opposition 
papers  will  get  hold  of  Lord  Teviot's  appointment  before 
we  gazette  him,  and  there  will  be  the  deuce  to  pay  with 
them." 

"Are  the  journals  so  much  dear  to  pay?"  said  La 
Grange,  who  hoped  he  had  opened  a  new  vein  of  informa- 
tion.    Do  you  pay  them  yourself?  " 

"  Pay  them !  "  repeated  Fisherwick.  "  My  dear  sir,  do 
you  really  suppose  we  should  deign  to  buy  off  any  of  those 
vile,  libellous  publications?  What  do  we  care  for  them? 
The  papers  that  have  any  circulation  are  not  to  be  bought, 
and  as  for  the  Opposition  trash,  it  is  not  worth  buying." 

"  I  admire  your  papers  beyond  all  that  I  see  in  Eng- 
land. We  think  much  in  our  country  of  your  liberty  of 
the  Press ;  but  it  far  pass  my  hopes.  It  is  the  greatest  of 
benefits  to  a  stranger:  it  let  him  at  once  into  secrets  of 
society.  You  can  tell  to  me,  Fisherwick,  if  it  be  true 
what  they  do  say,  that  Mr.  G.  have  made  these  changes  in 

M 


178  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

your  trade-laws  because  his  brother,  who  do  own  many 
vessels,  will  find  it  for  his  good." 

"Is  it  possible,  my  dear  sir,"  gasped  Fisherwick,  "  that 
you  can  read  and  believe  such  detestable  lies  as  are  pub- 
lished in  that  infamous  paper?  not  that  I  ever  look  at  it, 
but  he  told  me  of  that  paragraph.  He  is  magnanimous 
on  those  points  to  a  degree  of  which  I  can  give  you  no  idea ; 
but  if  anybody  can  really  believe  such  libels — I  must  have 
these  fellows  pulled  up." 

"  Ah  !  ah !  you  are  angry,  my  dear  Fisherwick.  What ! 
Mr.  G.  do  then  have  a  brother  with  shipping?  " 

"  I  angry!  "  said  Fisherwick,  puffing  like  an  irate  gram- 
pus; "  if  we  official  men  were  put  out  by  such  palpable 
calumnies  as  these,  a  blessed  time  we  should  have  of  it." 

"  But  he  have  a  brother  which  trades,"  pursued  La 
Grange,  shouting  with  delight  as  he  felt  he  was  driving 
Fisherwick  to  earth. 

"  He  has  three  brothers,  men  of  very  distinguished 
ability  and  large  fortune."  This  was  enunciated  with 
much  majesty. 

"  And  one  in  trade ;  ha,  I  have  found  you  out ;  my  paper 
did  tell  the  trute." 

Fisherwick  turned  from  him  in  disgust,  and  had  in  con- 
sequence to  endure  a  slap  on  the  shoulder,  and  another 
triumphant  laugh,  as  La  Grange  continued  to  repeat, 
"  Found  out." 

After  the  ladies  went  to  the  drawing-room,  Helen  had 
Lady  Portmore's  high  spirits  and  oppressive  pity  to  bear; 
but  much  to  her  surprise  was  defended  and  protected  by 
Mrs.  Douglas,  who  sympathized  with  her  headache,  pro- 
moted her  quiet,  and  snubbed  Lady  Portmore  with  great 
success. 

Eliza  was  unfeignedly  low  at  her  own  prospects;  she 
thought  she  had  only  one  more  day  of  perfect  happiness 
to  come,  and  then  there  would  be  an  end  of  refinement 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  179 

and  Colonel  Beaufort,  and  the  reign  of  the  Birketts  and 
Thompsons  would  recommence;  and  she  owned  to  herself 
that  her  tastes  were  sadly  altered,  and  that  she  should  like 
to  live  always  in  such  society  as  she  had  met  during  the 
last  few  weeks. 

When  the  gentlemen  came  in,  the  gaiety  of  the  evening 
did  not  increase.  Lady  Portmore  tried  to  get  up  a  recon- 
ciliation with  Ernest,  who  strenuously  denied  the  existence 
of  any  quarrel.  She  begged  his  pardon  for  what  she 
had  said  at  dinner,  and  he  declared  he  did  not  recollect 
what  it  was ;  and  she  ended  by  assuring  him  he  was  a  strange 
creature,  but  that  she  saw  that  he  was  piqued,  and  felt 
sure  that  one  day  or  other  he  would  do  her  greater  justice. 
Mr.  G.  and  Fisherwick,  who  were  to  start  at  break  of  day, 
took  leave  overnight — Fisherwick  hoping  it  might  not  be 
very  cold  in  the  morning,  and  Mr.  G.  with  some  suspicion 
that  he  had  disturbed  the  peace  of  the  Teviot  menage  ; 
but  still  he  felt  in  his  ambitious  soul,  "  They  would  at  all 
events  have  been  tired  of  each  other  in  six  months,  and 
perhaps  then  I  could  not  have  given  Teviot  such  a  good 
appointment."  La  Grange  made  his  farewell  speech, 
and  announced  that  he  was  desolated  to  go,  but  that  their 
excellent  neighbour,  Mrs.  Dowbiggin,  that  charming 
woman,  had  done  him  the  honour  to  invite  him  for  a  few 

days  to  N ,  where  he  meant  to  initiate  himself  into  all 

the  details  of  trade  and  commerce.  Lord  and  Lady 
Middlesex  and  various  minor  members  of  the  society 
departed;  and  under  these  afflicting  circumstances,  the 
melancholy  of  the  hostess  and  the  forced  gaiety  of  the 
host  did  them  the  highest  credit.  It  gave  them  the  amiable 
appearance  of  being  actually  sorry  to  lose  their  friends; 
and  several  of  the  party  went  away  declaring,  in  the 
innocence  of  their  hearts,  that  they  should  never  forget  the 
genuine  grief  with  which  their  departure  had  affected 
those  amiable  Teviots. 


CHAPTER   XXXI 

But  Mrs.  Douglas  could  not  be  so  deceived.  She  could 
not  allow  such  a  promising  bud  of  unhappiness  to  wither 
without,  as  Othello  says,  "  smelling  it  on  the  tree."  She 
was  willing  to  prevent  Lady  Portmore  from  persecuting 
Helen ;  but  she  could  not  consent  to  deprive  herself  of  the 
pleasure  of  pointing  out  the  shadows  of  the  Teviot  picture. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Douglas !  "  she  said,  as  soon  as  they  were 
alone,  "  well !  " 

"  Well,  my  dear;   what  now?  " 

"  Why,  what  do  you  think  of  it  all?  " 

"All  what,  my  dear?" 

"  You  know  very  well  what  I  mean,  love,  only  you  don't 
choose  to  speak." 

"  I  am  quite  ready  to  speak,  Anne;  but  what  is  it  to  be 
about?  " 

"  About  this  evening,  to  be  sure.  What  did  you  think 
of  it?" 

"  Between  ourselves,  I  thought  it  not  quite  so  pleasant 
as  most  of  the  evenings  we  have  passed  here.  It  was  rather 
dull,  was  it  not?  " 

"  Now,  Mr.  Douglas,  don't  be  tiresome,  you  are  only 
affecting  ignorance ;  pray  what  do  you  think  of  the  Teviots 
now?  " 

"Very  much  what  I  always  did;  that  they  are  very 
charming  people,  and  keep  a  very  pleasant  house,  and  I  am 
sorry  to  leave  them." 

"  And  you  think  they  are  a  happy  couple?  " 

"  Very — not  to-day,  by  the  by,  for  he  is  going  away  for 

1 80 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  i8i 

a  few  weeks,  which  annoys  her.  I  do  not  know  whether 
you  heard  him  say  at  dinner  that  he  was  to  be  sent  on  a 
special  mission  to  Lisbon;  and  it  strikes  me  that  Lady 
Teviot  was  perhaps  a  Httle  low  at  his  going  without  her, 
which  would  account  for  the  evening  being  dull.  I  have 
not  an  idea  how  those  Portuguese  and  Spanish  affairs  are 
to  end." 

"  Now,  my  dear  Mr.  Douglas,  don't  go  off  on  those 
tiresome  foreign  affairs.  What  can  it  signify  which  conquers 
which,  or  who  dethrones  who,  at  that  distance  ?  Let  them 
fight  it  out  quietly.  Besides,  you  need  not  pretend  to  under- 
stand national  feuds  if  you  have  not  found  out  what  is 
passing  under  your  eyes ;  but  I  cannot  believe  it,  you  must 
see  what  an  unhappy  couple  these  poor  Teviots  are." 

"  Unhappy,  Anne,  the  Teviots !  " 

"  Yes,  by  far  the  most  unhappy  young  couple  I  know. 
In  fact,  I  have  been  trying  to  recollect,  but  I  cannot  recall 
any  instance  of  two  young  people  separating  so  early  in 
their  married  life." 

"  But,  my  dear  Anne,  you  surely  cannot  twist  this  into  a 
separation — an  official  trip,  which  is  to  last  six  weeks  at  the 
outside." 

"  As  if  the  merest  child  could  be  taken  in  by  that!  I 
said  from  the  first,  Mr.  Douglas,  that  Lord  Teviot  had  a 
horrid  temper,  and  that  Helen  did  not  care  a  straw  for  him ; 
but  Lady  Eskdale  was,  I  suppose,  determined  to  catch  a 
great  partly  and  now  see  what  it  has  come  to  !  There  is  he 
going  off  with  a  married  woman,  one  of  the  most  unprin- 
cipled people  I  ever  encountered,  and  excessively  old- 
looking  ;  and  there  is  Helen  going  back  to  her  friends,  quite 
broken-hearted.  I  declare  I  think  it  is  very  shocking,  and 
that  Lady  Eskdale  has  a  great  deal  to  answer  for.  Then 
there  is  Sophia  dying,  by  all  accounts.  I  fancy  they  have 
wretched  constitutions,  though  they  look  well  for  a  time; 
but  I  will  answer  for  it  that  all  those  Beauforts,  before  they 


1 82  THE   SEMI- ATTACHED   COUPLE 

are  thirty,  will  have  outlived  their  looks  completely,  and 
Helen  is  just  the  sort  of  person  to  fret  herself  into  a  decline." 

"  My  dear,  how  you  do  run  on,  conjuring  up  one  chance 
of  unhappiness  after  another !  and  I  cannot  believe  there  is 
any  foundation  for  any  of  them." 

"  No,  because  you  do  not  choose  to  believe,  Mr.  Douglas ; 
but  I  thought  that  even  you  must  have  observed  Lord 
Teviot's  guilty  look  when  Helen  said  she  was  going  home. 
You  must  have  remarked  that ;  and  then  that  wicked  Lady 
Portmore  proposing,  actually  proposing  to  follow  him  in  her 
yacht.  I  was  quite  annoyed  that  Eliza  should  hear  such 
improper  conversation.  However,  my  belief  is  that  she 
and  Lord  Teviot  will  go  no  further  than  London,  and  the 
Lisbon  journey  will  be  given  up,  now  that,  under  pretence 
of  it,  he  has  got  rid  of  his  wife." 

"  I  cannot  think  all  this  can  be  so,  Anne;  it  is  too  bad 
to  be  true." 

"  Nothing  is  too  bad  to  be  true,  Mr  Douglas,  and  nothing 
is  true  that  is  not  bad.  Those  are  two  axioms  I  never  can 
persuade  you  to  remember;  and  I  am  certain  that  we  do 
not  give  that  fine  set  credit  for  half  the  vices  they  practise. 
We  may  good-naturedly  try  to  gloss  over  this  Teviot  story  " 
(Mr.  Douglas  looked  up,  and  shook  his  head) ;  "  but  just 
consider  what  you  would  have  said  if  the  same  circumstances 
had  occurred  in  a  lower  rank  of  life.  Why,  when  James 
Wheeler  went  off  to  America,  and  Sally  Wheeler  came  home 
to  her  mother,  what  a  fuss  you  and  the  churchwardens  and 
the  vestry  made !  and  James  only  forsook  his  own  wife,  he 
did  not  carry  off  another  person's." 

"  Neither  will  Lord  Teviot.  I  must  say,  Anne,  you  have 
no  right  to  put  together  such  histories;  still  less  to  spread 
such  reports.  It  is  most  ungrateful,"  he  added,  in  an 
accent  of  deep  displeasure,  "  after  the  kindness  the  Teviots 
have  shown  us ;  and  if  there  be  any  foundation  for  your 
suppositions,  it  would  certainly  be  becoming,  and  I  should 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  183 

hope  natural,  that  you  would  act  by  that  young  creature  as 
you  would  wish  her  mother  to  act  by  one  of  your  daughters 
in  similar  circumstances.  You  might  have  helped  her  with 
advice,  if  the  circumstances  you  state  are  true.  Lady 
Eskdale  would  have  acted  a  kinder  part  by  you,  Anne." 

Mr.  Douglas  was  so  seldom  roused  to  anger  that  a  lecture 
from  him  had  a  startling  effect  on  his  wife;  and  her  con- 
science, moreover,  rather  reproached  her  on  Helen's 
account ;  so  she  assured  Mr.  Douglas  that  her  observations 
had  been  confided  solely  to  him,  and  should  go  no  further, 
and  that  if  she  saw  any  chance  of  being  of  use  to  Helen  the 
next  day,  she  would  do  what  she  could;  but  as  for  not 
thinking  ill  of  Lord  Teviot  and  Lady  Portmore  and  Colonel 
Stuart,  and  indeed  of  most  people,  she  really  could  not 
oblige  him  by  going  so  far  as  that.  It  was  a  concession  he 
did  not  appear  to  expect,  so  they  ended  very  amicably. 


CHAPTER   XXXII 

Not  a  word  passed  during  the  Monday  between  the 
Teviots,  except  on  the  most  ordinary  subjects.  Helen 
hoped  they  were  not  to  part  on  such  bad  terms,  and 
wondered  whether  they  were  to  write  to  each  other.  She 
would  have  been  glad  to  forgive  and  forget  his  unkindness 
about  her  sister  if  he  had  wished  it,  and  altogether  was 
decidedly  in  favour  of  gliding  back  to  peace  and  amity 
without  explanation.  But  he  did  not  take  by  any  means 
this  commonplace  view  of  the  subject :  sometimes  he  had  a 
glimmering  idea  that  he  might  have  been  the  aggressor  in 
their  quarrels;  but  that  was  only  a  momentary  delusion. 
In  general  he  saw  clearly  that  he  was  the  most  unfortunate 
being  on  earth;  that  his  wife  hated  him;  that  her  family 
were  his  bitterest  enemies ;  that  he  was  driven  from  home 
by  the  unparalleled  unhappiness  of  his  daily  life ;  and  that 
this  was  the  more  provoking,  because  he  happened  to  be  a 
model  husband,  and  certainly  had  loved  Helen,  though 
her  marked  preference  of  every  living  creature,  from  her 
father  to  her  lap-dog,  made  it  justifiable,  indeed  incumbent 
on  him  to  give  up  caring  about  her.  So  much  for  his 
domestic  life.  As  for  his  future  prospects,  they  were  of  the 
gloomiest  description.  He  knew  many  people  thought 
his  position  enviable,  and,  indeed,  there  might  be  an 
appearance  of  prosperity  in  his  lot.  And  he  happened  to 
have  naturally  the  most  marked  and  decided  dispositions 
for  enjoyment  :  he  claimed  no  merit  on  that  score,  they 
were  born  with  him;  but  Helen  had  blasted  all  this.  It 
was  entirely  her  doing.     If  she  had  shown  one  spark  of 

184 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  185 

affection  for  him,  he  should  have  stayed  at  home,  the 
happiest  of  men ;  as  it  was,  he  was  absolutely  driven  into 
exile.  It  was  all  very  well  to  call  it  a  mission,  he  called  it 
banishment.  As  for  coming  back  in  six  weeks,  it  was  much 
more  likely  that  he  should  not  come  back  at  all :  he  should 
certainly  go  on  to  Greece  or  Egypt.  Timbuctoo  seemed  to 
be  an  interesting  place;  he  should  rather  like  to  go  there, 
just  to  see  if  Helen  would  think  it  worth  while  to  be  surprised. 
As  for  their  ever  being  reconciled,  that  was  out  of  the 
question ;  in  fact,  there  was  no  quarrel ;  they  were  merely 
two  people  who  did  not  suit  each  other,  and  so  would  be 
happier  apart;  and  this  being  settled,  he  did  the  most 
unwise  thing  he  could  do.  He  sought  out  Lady  Portmore, 
and  made  her  the  confidante  of  his  fancied  griefs.  This 
was  an  attention  that  charmed  her.  She  pitied  him,  told 
him  that  she  had  always  dreaded  his  discovering  what  she 
had  seen  from  the  first,  and  had  been  kindly  hinting  to  him 
ever  since,  that  Helen  did  not  care  for  him,  and  was  not 
suited  to  him. 

"  She  is  your  wife,  my  dear  Teviot,  so  I  have  no  right  to 
speak ;  but  from  my  heart  I  pity  you.  You  require  a  wife 
who  can  understand  your  great  qualities.  You  know  I 
never  flatter  you,  but  there  is  really  hardly  a  man  of  your 
standing  who  can  be  compared  to  you  in  talent,  agreeable- 
ness,  in  everything  that  promises  distinction;  and  then  to 
see  Helen  so  blind  to  all  this;  it  is  provoking;  and  I  am 
foolishly  warm  where  my  friends  are  concerned.  My 
advice  to  you  is  to  go;  absence  may  do  much.  She  will 
miss  you,  miss  the  importance  of  her  present  position,  for 
she  prizes  that;  and  perhaps  she  will  grow  wiser  as  she 
grows  older.  And  in  the  meanwhile,  my  dear  Teviot,  trust 
to  me  for  entering  thoroughly  into  your  interests.  I  ought 
not  to  say  it,  above  all  to  you,  but  I  know  what  it  is  to  be 
linked  to  a  being  utterly  incapable  of  entering  into  one's 
feelings.      To  no  one  but  you  could  I  trust  myself  on  this 


1 86  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

point;  but  you  know  what  Lord  Portmore  is  " ;  and  there- 
upon Lady  Portmore  launched  into  a  sea  of  all  poor  Lord 
Portmore's  little  stupidities,  with  which  every  one  of  her 
male  friends  were  indulged  in  their  turn,  and  which  at  this 
moment  interested  Teviot,  as  he  wanted  to  find  out  that  all 
the  world  were  as  unhappy  as  himself. 

Lady  Portmore  succeeded  in  hardening  his  heart  against 
Helen,  and  the  day — their  last  day — drew  to  a  close  with- 
out a  word  of  kindness,  regret,  or  reconciliation.  Late  in 
the  evening,  Helen,  driven  into  action  by  desperation,  went 
up  to  her  husband  and  Lady  Portmore,  who  were  seated  in 
earnest  conversation,  and,  sitting  down  by  them,  asked  Lady 
Portmore  if  she  meant  to  go  early  the  next  morning ;  and 
then,  turning  to  Lord  Teviot,  asked  him  the  same  question. 
On  his  reply  in  the  affirmative,  she  said  kindly,  "  Then 
can  I  speak  to  you  for  five  minutes  now,  as  you  may 
not  have  time  in  the  morning  to  give  me  your  last 
orders?  " 

"  I  shall  leave  written  directions  about  my  letters,  and 
Griffiths  knows  all  that  is  to  be  done  here." 

"  There  is  nothing  like  written  directions  to  prevent 
mistakes,"  said  Lady  Portmore;  "  I  always  leave  a  positive 
book  with  my  porter.  But  to  return  to  this  courier  I  want 
you  to  take — "  and  they  resumed  their  conversation. 

Helen  looked  disappointed,  but  retained  her  seat. 
Mary  Forrester  had  watched  her  from  the  work-table  at 
which  she  was  sitting,  and  saw  she  was  in  need  of  assistance. 
She  glanced  round,  but  had  not  the  heart  to  disturb  Ernest 
and  Eliza,  who  were  also  taking  their  last  talk.  These 
finales  to  a  large  party  are  full  of  sentiment  and  deep  pathos. 
Mary  had  only  one  resource,  as  she  did  not  choose  to  take 
Colonel  Stuart  into  her  counsels  on  this  or  any  other 
subject;  so  she  walked  boldly  up  to  Lord  Beaufort,  who  was 
writing  letters  at  the  end  of  the  room,  and  said,  "  Cannot 
you  show  Lady  Portmore  now  the  print  you  mentioned  ?  " 


<         THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  187 

She  directed  his  eyes  to  the  group  in  the  distance,  and  added, 
"  She  is  very  much  in  your  sister's  way." 

Lord  Beaufort  wanted  no  further  explanation.  He  was 
as  anxious  as  Miss  Forrester  could  be  that  Lord  and  Lady 
Teviot  should  come  to  some  explanation  before  they  parted, 
for  their  estrangement  was  palpable  to  all  eyes;  so  he 
immediately  went  to  Lady  Portmore  and,  offering  her  his 
arm,  said,  "  Come,  I  am  going  to  carry  you  off  forcibly; 
you  must  not  leave  St.  Mary's  without  seeing  this  picture, 
which  I  think  has  a  great  look  of  you."  She  could  not  resist 
this  piece  of  flattery,  and  went  with  him.  Lord  Teviot  rose 
to  follow  them,  but  Helen  laid  her  hand  on  his  arm,  and 
said,  "  No,  you  cannot  refuse  me  a  few  minutes  on  this  our 
last  evening." 

"  I  am  at  your  orders,"  he  said  coldly. 

"  Teviot,  we  surely  are  not  to  part  on  these  terms.  Do 
not  go  without  a  kind  word  or  look — I  cannot  bear  it." 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  I  do  not  think  I  quite  understand 
your  grievance.  There  was  no  necessity  for  our  parting  at 
all ;  but  you  decided  that  we  should,  and  I  can  imagine 
no  two  people  less  called  upon  to  affect  any  grief  on  that 
score.     Can  I  do  anything  for  you  in  London?  " 

She  turned  very  pale,  and  said,  "  Let  me  go  with  you 
that  far,  even  if  you  will  not  let  me  go  to  Lisbon." 

"  Thank  you,  no ;  I  shall  be  very  much  hurried,  and  you, 
you  know,  are  going  home.'' 

"  I  was  wrong  when  I  said  that — I  knew  it  at  the  time; 
but  I  was  hurt  by  what  you  and  Lady  Portmore  said,  and  I 
spoke  in  anger.     Teviot,  my  home  is  with  you." 

"  I  fear  it  has  not  been  a  happy  one,  but  all  that  is  over 
now ;  discussions  can  do  no  good.  I  have  no  doubt  you  will 
be  very  happy  when  you  are  with  those  you  love,  and  as  for 
me,  allow  me  to  take  care  of  myself  Any  life  that  I  make 
out  for  myself  will  be  better  than  that  I  have  led  lately. 
Have  you  anything  more  to  say?  " 


1 88  THE   SEMI- ATTACHED   COUPLE 

There  was  no  answer;  she  attempted  to  rise,  but  sank 
back,  and  faintly  murmured — "  Nothing." 

He  looked  at  her  for  the  first  time,  and  was  shocked  at 
her  ghastly  appearance  and  fixed  look  of  suffering.  "  Are 
you  ill,  Helen?  "  he  said. 

"  Do  not  speak  to  me,  I  cannot  bear  any  more  cruel 
words.     I  must  go  to  my  own  room,  I  cannot  stay  here  with 

all  these  people  looking  on.     Let  me  go "  and  again  she 

tried  to  rise. 

"  But  you  must  let  me  assist  you :   take  my  arm,  Helen." 

"  No,  no;    I  must  be  alone." 

"  You  shall  be  alone,  but  you  cannot  go  by  yourself, 
Helen.  I  will  leave  you  when  I  have  seen  you  safe  to  your 
room." 

She  had  not  energy  to  dispute  the  point :  all  she  felt  was 
a  strong  desire  to  be  alone,  and  a  certainty  that  she  could 
not  reach  her  room  without  assistance.  He  led  her  to  it, 
supporting  her  trembling  steps  in  silence.  She  disengaged 
her  arm,  and,  waving  her  hand  to  him  to  leave  her,  rushed 
towards  the  ottoman,  and,  flinging  herself  on  it,  burst  into 
a  flood  of  tears.  She  sobbed  like  a  child,  and  with  the 
young  passionate  resentment  of  a  child  whose  attempt  to 
"  make  it  up  and  be  friends  "  has  been  misrepresented  and 
repulsed.  And  as  no  resentment  in  her  own  heart  was 
sufficiently  powerful  to  give  her  any  insight  into  the  latent 
motives  of  Lord  Teviot's  violence,  terror  and  helplessness 
were  the  chief  consequences  produced  by  his  inexplicable 
language,  accompanied  by  a  sense  of  suffering  under  ex- 
treme injustice. 

The  relief  of  tears  she  had  never  before  in  her  short, 
sunny  life  experienced  to  this  extreme  degree.  She  abso- 
lutely revelled  in  them,  ignorant  that  her  husband  was  a 
witness  to  her  grief,  till  the  sight  of  her  sorrow  overpowered 
him ;  and  as  he  flung  himself  down  by  her  side  she  heard 
him  beseeching  her  to  be  calm  and  to  forgive  him,  and  to 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  189 

forget  what  he  had  said.  "  Say  you  forgive  me,  my  poor 
Helen;  I  cannot  bear  to  see  you  cry,  and  to  feel  that  I 
have  made  you  so  unhappy.  I  am  a  violent,  unfeeling 
wretch,  and  I  know  that  I  say  a  thousand  things  that  I  do 
not  mean  when  I  am  angry:  "  and  then  followed  all  those 
inarticulate  soothings  and  caresses  which  are  so  efficacious 
and  healing  after  a  quarrel.  Then  he  persuaded  her  to 
look  at  him,  and  to  see  how  sorry  he  was ;  and  he  brought  a 
glass  of  water,  and  supported  her  while  she  drank  it.  And 
though  they  both  abstained  from  any  allusion  to  the  original 
cause  of  their  disagreement, — perhaps  neither  of  them  knew 
exactly  what  it  was, — there  was  much  concession  on  his 
part,  and  she  had  the  comfort  of  thinking  that  they  would 
now  part  on  friendly  terms.  He  advised  her  not  to  return 
to  the  drawing-room  that  evening,  and  tried  in  every  way 
to  quiet  her  shaken  nerves.  He  told  her  St.  Mary's  would 
always  be  kept  in  readiness  for  her,  and  that  Teviot  House 
should  be  prepared  for  her  in  case  she  wished  to  be  in 
London;  and  that  he  hoped  she  would  at  all  events  meet 
him  there  on  his  return.  He  gave  the  most  minute  direc- 
tions with  respect  to  her  letters,  and  begged  her  to  write 
constantly;  "  and  you  will  be  sure  to  give  me  a  particular 
account  of  Sophia,"  he  added  in  a  tone  of  deep  humility. 

"  Thank  you,"  she  said  dejectedly,  "  you  are  very  good." 
She  thought  he  was  speaking  only  with  the  view  of  quieting 
her,  and  not  from  his  heart.  The  tears  still  strayed  slowly 
down  her  cheeks,  and  she  looked  so  pale  that  at  last  Lord 
Teviot  bethought  himself  of  ringing  for  Tomkinson,  and  of 
putting  the  case  into  her  hands.  It  was  a  charming 
spectacle  for  her,  and  quite  overthrew  her  system  of  "  my 
lord's  good-for-nothingness." 

"  You  never  saw  such  a  flustration  as  my  lord  was  in," 
she  afterwards  told  Mrs.  Nelson,  "just  because  her  ladyship 
took  on  so,  and  got  a  little  nervous  on  account  of  his  lordship 
being  obliged  to  go  on  that  Portugee  business ;  and  he  called 


I  go  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

to  me  quite  sharp  for  the  sal-volatile,  and  my  keys  were 
mislaid  somehow — that  always  is  the  way  with  keys  when 
they  are  wanted ;  and  there  was  my  lord  holding  my  lady's 
hands  and  kissing  them,  which  was  distressing  for  me ;  but 
I  did  not  look  that  way  much.  Indeed,  I  was  rummaging 
for  those  keys,  and  when  I  brought  the  sal-volatile  my  lord 
gave  it  to  her  hisself,  and  my  lord  and  me  agreed  that  the 
best  thing  for  me  to  do  was  to  get  her  ladyship  to  bed ;  and 
my  lord  said,  '  You  had  better  stay  by  her,  Mrs.  Tomkins.' 
To  be  sure  it  is  very  strange  he  cannot  learn  my  name ;  but 
anyhow  I  am  satisfied  about  him  and  my  lady,  and  I 
suppose  he  will  find  out  I  am  called  Tomkinson  at  last,  and 
then  everything  will  be  as  it  should,"  which  was  a  cheerful 
prospect  to  end  with. 


CHAPTER   XXXIII 

There  was  a  succession  of  hurried  breakfasts  the  next 
morning,  and  of  partings  more  or  less  painful.  Lady 
Portmore  went  off  first,  comforting  the  friends  she  left  by 
assurances  that  her  visit  had  been  very  pleasant,  and 
delicately  affirming  to  the  Douglas  family  that  they  would 
not  find  her  one  of  those  odious  fine  ladies  who  would  cut 
them  if  ever  they  came  to  town,  which  last  touch  of 
grandeur  made  Mrs.  Douglas  remarkably  angry.  Colonel 
Beaufort,  after  ordering  horses  to  take  him  the  first  stage 
to  his  own  house  in  Lincolnshire,  suddenly  decided  it 
would  be  less  trouble  to  go  to  town  with  Lord  Teviot. 
Miss  Forrester  had  hesitated  about  accepting  Lady  Esk- 
dale's  invitation,  as  she  thought  she  should  be  in  the  way 
till  the  family  were  more  at  ease  about  Lady  Sophia,  and 
to  her  great  surprise  found  herself  pressed  by  Mrs.  Douglas 
to  come  and  stay  at  Thornbank  till  she  should  like  to 
remove  to  the  castle. 

"  I  really  was  obliged  to  ask  her,"  Mrs.  Douglas  said; 
"  though  what  she  will  do  with  herself  I  have  not  a  guess. 
It  is  all  EHza's  doing.  She  has  taken  one  of  those  engoue- 
merits  for  Miss  Forrester  which  my  girls  set  up  all  of  a 
sudden.  I  cannot  think  where  they  learnt  it.  Not  from 
me:  I  never  took  a  fancy  to  anybody  in  my  life.  If 
people  have  any  striking  qualities,  they  are  generally  bad 
ones.  However,  Miss  Forrester  is  less  disagreeable  than 
most  of  her  set ;  and  the  instant  I  saw  that  Lady  Portmore 
making  difficulties  about  taking  her  home  again,  I  deter- 
mined to  be  as   civil   to  her  as  possible.     Besides,   poor 

191 


192  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

thing !  I  should  pity  her  if  she  had  to  go  through  all  the 
fuss  that  Lady  Eskdale  will  make  about  Lady  Sophia. 
We  shall  hear  enough  of  it  at  Thornbank,  though  I  shall 
keep  out  of  the  way;  and  Miss  Forrester  is  welcome  to 
take  shelter  there  till  the  great  storm  blows  over." 

Mary  hoped  that  Lord  Beaufort's  stay  at  home  would 
not  be  long,  as  in  her  own  mind  she  had  decided  on  post- 
poning her  visit  to  Eskdale  till  his  was  concluded;  and, 
in  the  meantime,  she  was  glad  to  be  in  Helen's  neighbour- 
hood: so  she  and  the  Douglases  took  their  departure 
together.  Eliza  was  desperately  low,  and  looked  back  at 
St.  Mary's  as  at  a  lost  heaven;  and  after  the  tall  column 
on  the  top  of  the  hill  had  disappeared,  the  remainder  of 
the  journey  seemed  to  her  to  be  through  a  dreary  flat, 
and  she  could  not  understand  what  Miss  Forrester  meant 
by  thinking  the  country  pretty.  However,  she  found  some 
consolation  in  the  idea  of  the  endless  talks  she  could  have 
with  Sarah,  and  in  the  unacknowledged  expectation  that 
Colonel  Beaufort  must  come  at  last  to  see  his  relations. 
At  all  events,  there  were  others  of  his  name  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood; she  might  hear  them  mention  him:  in  short, 
black  as  were  her  prospects,  there  were  still  gleams  of 
light,  and,  to  end  where  she  began,  she  should  tell  Sarah 
all  about  it. 

Poor  girl!  little  did  she  think  that  while  she  sat  quietly 
in  the  carriage,  pondering  over  Colonel  Beaufort's  tritest 
remarks,  hoarding  up  as  most  important  recollections  that 
he  liked  reading  the  newspaper,  and  did  not  care  about 
poetry;  that  he  thought  London  the  best  place  to  live 
in;  and  that  his  watch  cost  ninety  guineas:  little  did  she 
know  that  the  ungrateful  creature  had  dismissed  from  his 
mind  all  the  conversations  that  had  ever  passed  between 
them,  and  was  given  up  to  discussions  on  foreign  politics 
with  Lord  Teviot,  and  half  disposed  to  go  abroad  himself 
for  a  few  years;    and  that  she  was  merely  to  him  a  good- 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  193 

humoured  little  Miss  Something  whom  he  had  met  at 
St.  Mary's.  Shocking  discrepancy !  but  so  it  will  be,  when 
young,  ignorant  girls  fall  in  love  as,  I  grieve  to  say,  they 
often  do  with  biases  men  of  the  world.  However,  give  them 
time  and  opportunity,  and  there  is  no  saying  whether  the 
warm  heart  will  not  soften  and  conquer  the  hard  one  at 
last. 

Lord  and  Lady  Teviot  parted  in  the  most  edifying 
manner.  He  handed  her  into  the  carriage,  arranged  her 
cloak  round  her,  and  insisted,  in  the  hearing  of  Mrs. 
Tomkinson  and  the  servants,  on  her  writing  to  him  by  the 
first  post,  and  then  walked  round  the  britzska  to  see  that 
the  apron  was  properly  buttoned,  and  that  Helen  had 
shawls  enough.  This  was  all  for  the  public :  their  private 
farewells  had  been  perfectly  amicable,  though  his  mis- 
givings had  revived  as  her  hysterics  had  subsided;  but 
Helen  was  satisfied.  She  had  her  brother  by  her  side,  and 
Eskdale  in  prospect;  the  knowledge  that  she  and  her 
husband  were  on  good  terms  now,  and  that  he  would 
have  no  opportunity  for  being  angry  with  her  again.  So 
she  was  happy,  and  it  was  fortunate  he  did  not  know  it. 


N 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 

The  respectable  Douglas  coach  drove  to  the  door  at 
Thornbank.  Mr.  Douglas  threw  a  paternal  look  at  his 
sheep,  who  were  tinkling  their  tiresome  little  bells  and 
eating  their  rich  grass  in  front  of  the  house,  and  began  to 
think  St.  Mary's  was  not  such  a  very  fine  place  after  all, 
and  that  Thornbank  had  its  attractions.  Mrs.  Douglas 
watched  Miss  Forrester,  to  see  whether  she  turned  con- 
temptuous at  the  sight  of  a  commonplace,  moderate-sized 
home;  and  EHza  was  eager  for  the  first  sight  of  Sarah. 
She  was  at  the  door,  looking  eager  and  happy  in  an 
unusual  degree;  and  the  next  minute  the  important  fact 
of  Mr.  Wentworth's  proposal  was  made  known  to  all  the 
family ;  and  in  half  an  hour  Eliza  and  Sarah  were  estab- 
lished in  their  own  little  room,  perched  on  two  hard  cane 
chairs,  with  their  shawls  on  to  atone  for  the  want  of  a 
fire,  both  talking  at  once,  both  listening,  and  both  happy; 
but  Sarah  was  the  happiest,  for  though  Eliza's  gaieties 
had  been  the  most  brilliant,  they  were  evanescent  and 
fruitless,  whereas  Sarah  was  convinced  that  she  had  secured 
for  life  a  comfortable  little  allotment  of  perfect  bliss. 

*'  Tell  me  more,  Sarah;    tell  me  exactly  what  he  said." 

"  No,  I  can't  indeed,  Eliza;  it  seems  so  foolish  to  repeat 
those  sort  of  things." 

"  Oh !  not  to  me,  your  own  sister.  You  really  must, 
for  I  never  have  heard  a  real,  live  proposal,  and  I  am  so 
curious  to  know  what  they  say.  Just  begin  where  you 
left  off  in  your  last  letter,  after  he  went  over  to  my  aunt's. 

194 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  195 

I  suppose  you  were  very  anxious  to  know  if  he  would  call 
again?  " 

"  Of  course  I  was.  I  thought  of  nothing  else;  and  yet 
I  was  sure  he  would,  because  he  had  said  it.  I  do  think, 
Eliza,  he  is  the  best  man  I  ever  heard  of.  Well,  and  so 
we  went  to  church  in  the  morning,  and  Mr.  Briggs  preached 
about  taking  no  thought  for  the  morrow.  I  am  sure  it 
was  lucky  he  said  nothing  against  taking  thought  for  the 
day,  for  I  could  not  help  wondering  if  Mr.  Wentworth 
would  call;  and  while  we  were  at  luncheon  there  was  a 
ring  at  the  bell,  and  I  felt  myself  colouring  up,  and  who 
should  come  in  but  that  horrid  Ape  Brown." 

"  No,  really,  did  he?  By  the  by,  Sarah,  he  is  not  the 
least  like  Colonel  Beaufort." 

"  No;  I  know,"  said  Sarah,  laughing.  "  I  thought  that 
likeness  would  soon  wear  off.  Well,  I  began  to  give  it 
up,  when  there  was  another  ring,  and  this  time  it  was  all 
right.  I  saw  my  aunt  give  my  uncle  a  look,  and  my 
uncle  was  so  civil  to  Mr.  Wentworth;  and  after  luncheon 
we  went  out  walking,  and  that  dreadful  Ape  Brown  came 
and  offered  me  his  arm." 

"  His  paw  you  mean." 

"  Well,  his  paw;  but  my  aunt  called  him  off,  and  Mr. 
Wentworth  instantly  came,  and  said,  '  I  thought  Mr.  Brown 
was  going  to  usurp  my  place,'  which  was  so  nice  of  him ;  and 
then,  as  I  tell  you,  he  proposed  to  me,  and  it  was  all  settled." 

"  Oh!  but,  Sarah,  that  is  not  what  he  said;  you  must 
tell  me." 

"  No,  no,  not  now;  besides,  it  is  so  cold  sitting  here,  is 
not  it?" 

"  No,  not  very,  though  I  always  had  a  fire  in  my  room 
at  St.  Mary's.  When  you  are  Mrs.  Wentworth,  Sarah, 
you  will  have  a  fire  in  your  dressing-room;  and  I  think 
two  arm-chairs  would  be  a  great  improvement,  don't  you, 
on  these  uncomfortable  articles?  " 


1 96  THE  SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

"  So  they  would.  You  must  come  and  see  me  constantly, 
Eliza.  Mr.  Wentworth  says  Broom  House  is  very  ugly, 
but  I  dare  say  I  shall  think  it  pretty.     I  like  a  flat  place." 

"So  do  I.  Colonel  Beaufort  says  his  place  in  Lincoln- 
shire is  about  as  cheerful  as  the  Millbank  Penitentiary, 
only  without  the  river,  and  not  so  well  built;  but  I  am 
sure  I  should  not  dislike  any  place  that  belonged  to  a 
person  I  liked." 

"  How  droll  it  will  be  when  I  have  a  house  of  my  own, 
and  order  dinner,  and  keep  accounts,  like  mamma !  Mr. 
Wentworth  is  very  particular  about  his  dinner;  and  I 
have  found  out  another  of  his  tastes,  Eliza,  one  which  will 
make  you  angry." 

"What  is  it,  Sarah? — that  he  does  not  like  people  in 
the  army?  " 

"No,  not  so  bad  as  that;  but  he  dislikes  pink;  so  I 
shall  not  have  any  pink  gowns  in  my  trousseau.  He  will 
be  here  to-morrow.  Eliza,  I  rather  wish  that  Miss  Forrester 
had  not  come  just  now,  don't  you?  " 

"  I  am  not  sure;  I  think  you  will  like  her;  and  then 
she  will  walk  with  me  when  you  and  Mr.  Wentworth  go 
out  together;  and  she  can  give  you  the  best  advice  about 
your  trousseau.  Colonel  Beaufort  says  nobody  dresses  so 
well  as  she  does." 

"  Oh,  Eliza!  I  wish  you  were  as  happy  as  I  am;  but 
you  will  be  soon.  I  feel  sure  Colonel  Beaufort  will  come 
to  Eskdale,  and  ride  over  here  to  luncheon,  just  as  Mr. 
Wentworth  did;  and  now  I  must  go  to  mamma.  To  be 
sure,  it  is  very  lucky  Mr.  Wentworth  happens  to  be  perfect, 
because  if  he  had  had  any  faults,  mamma  is  so  clever,  I 
think  she  would  have  found  them  out." 

Sarah,  happily,  did  not  perceive  that  Mr.  Wentworth's 
security  was  in  his  position,  not  in  his  perfectibility.  Mrs. 
Douglas  was  too  much  charmed  with  the  simple  fact  of  a 
son-in-law  to  think  of  being  censorious ;   but  had  he  rashly 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  197 

engaged  himself  to  a  young  lady  who  was  not  her  daughter, 
she  would  have  pointed  out  with  the  nicest  discrimination 
that  he  was  a  very  commonplace  Mr.  Wentworth  indeed — 
fond  of  his  dinner,  inclining  to  fat  and  sleep,  and  drab- 
coloured  in  look,  coat,  and  ideas.  There  was  what  artists 
would  call  a  good  deal  of  neutral  tint  in  his  composition ; 
but  he  was  well-principled,  good-natured,  reasonably 
wealthy,  and  attached  to  Sarah,  so,  as  times  go,  she  had 
reason  to  be  thankful.  It  is  well  to  lay  hold  of  the  excep- 
tion, when  the  rule  generally  is,  that  the  men  who  may 
marry  our  daughters  are  neither  good,  rich,  nor  attached 
to  anything  but  themselves. 

Miss  Forrester  was  vexed  that  her  first  visit  should  have 
taken  place  at  such  an  inopportune  time;  but  the  interest 
she  expressed  in  Sarah's  happiness,  and  the  kindness  with 
which  she  entered  into  all  the  little  arrangements  of  the 
family,  made  her  of  importance  to  them  all,  and  at  the 
end  of  the  second  day  she  found  herself  quite  at  home,  and 
consulted  by  Mr.  Wentworth  about  jewellery,  by  Sarah 
about  dress,  and  by  Mrs.  Douglas  on  the  difficult  dilemma 
of  the  young  couple  being  allowed  to  walk  about  without 
a  chaperon.  She  had  seen  so  many  weddings  that  her 
opinion  about  the  breakfast,  the  bridesmaids,  etc.  was 
considered  valuable;  and  altogether  Mrs.  Douglas  was  in 
reality  pleased  with  her  guest,  though  it  would  have  made 
a  sad  break  in  her  habits  to  acknowledge  it. 

Lady  Sophia's  illness  had  proved  to  be  measles;  and 
though  she  was  nearly  well  again,  it  had  not  hitherto  been 
considered  prudent  to  call  at  the  Castle;  but  at  last  Mrs. 
Douglas  thought  the  visit  must  be  paid. 

"  I  suppose.  Miss  Forrester,  you  would  like  to  drive 
over  to  Eskdale  Castle  to-day?  Mrs.  Birkett  tells  me  all 
fear  of  infection  is  over,  but  that  Lady  Sophia  looks  very 
ill;   so  I  should  like  to  see  her." 

"  Because  she  looks  ill?  "  asked  Mr.  Douglas.     His  wife 


198  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

did  not  deign  to  answer  this,  and  went  on  as  if  she  had 
not  heard  it.  "  She  is  always  full  of  fancies  about  her 
health,  so  a  real,  tangible  illness  must  have  delighted  her. 
But  we  ought  to  make  our  due  inquiries,  and  I  suppose  I 
ought  to  announce  Sarah's  marriage  in  form;  not  that 
Lady  Eskdale  will  care  about  it.  However,  it  must  be 
done;   so  we  may  as  well  get  it  over  to-day." 

"  The  Waldens  are  there  too,  I  believe,"  said  Miss 
Forrester. 

"That  is  rather  against  us;  the  whole  family  in  full 
force,  and  the  organ  of  Eskdaleism  is  by  no  means  strongly 
developed  in  me;  but  if  there  is  one  of  them  I  should 
find  it  more  impossible  to  like  than  another,  it  is  Lady 
Sophia.  Now,  Mr.  Douglas,  you  are  always  saying  I  am 
censorious,  but  I  appeal  to  you  if  Lady  Sophia  is  not  the 
most  disagreeable  young  woman  you  ever  met  with?  " 

"  Not  quite  that,  Anne ;  but  she  is  not  so  charming  as 
the  other  two :  a  little  spoiled  and  fanciful,  and  she  snubs 
Waldegrave ;  but  then  he  likes  it,  and  she  will  grow  wiser 
as  she  grows  older." 

"  It  is  some  time  since  Lady  Sophia  has  done  growing," 
said  Mrs.  Douglas.  "  We  will  go  at  three,  my  dear,  if 
you  please." 

"  And  will  you  try  and  find  out  if  they  are  expecting 
any  company  at  Eskdale?"  whispered  Eliza  to  Miss 
Forrester,  as  they  set  off. 

They  found  some  of  the  family  at  home — Lady  Eskdale 
sitting  with  Lady  Walden,  who  had  added  a  baby  to  the 
family — thereby  giving  Mrs.  Douglas  a  third  generation 
on  which  to  vent  her  spleen;  but,  like  most  hard  women, 
she  had  a  weakness  for  babies,  and  was  softened  by  the 
sight  of  it,  though  she  did  not  "  see  why  it  was  necessary 
to  make  such  a  fuss  about  a  long  roll  of  cambric,  like  a 
white  bottle,  with  a  little  red  head  for  a  stopper."  But 
the  intelligence  of  Sarah's  marriage  was  received  with  all 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  199 

the  good-natured  interest  that  Lady  Eskdale  took  in  the 
happiness  of  others;  besides,  it  was  a  piece  of  county- 
news,  and  that  is  ahvays  welcome  in  the  country;  and 
Mrs.  Douglas  had  the  pride  of  hearing  it  retailed  three 
several  times — to  Lord  Eskdale,  Lady  Teviot,  and  the 
Waldegraves,  who  all  dropped  in  in  the  course  of  her 
visit. 

"I  am  so  tired !  "  said  Lady  Sophia,  throwing  herself 
on  the  sofa;  "it  is  most  oppressive  weather  for  the  time 
of  year,  or  else  one  of  my  bad  attacks  in  the  head  is  coming 
on." 

"  Do  you  suffer  much  from  headache  now.  Lady 
Sophia?" 

"  More  than  ever;  that  is,  not  from  absolute  headache, 
but  from  very  peculiar  feelings  in  my  head.  The  measles 
may  have  made  me  worse  just  now;  but  that  I  have  a 
tendency  to  apoplexy  I  am  quite  convinced ;  and  if  you 
look  at  me,  Miss  Forrester,  you  will  see  I  have  no  strength 
for  remedies." 

"  You  do  not  look  thin.  Lady  Sophia." 

"  That  is  fullness,  not  fat." 

"  And  you  have  plenty  of  colour." 

"  That  is  determination  of  blood  to  the  head :  I  have 
felt  it  the  last  two  days.  Dear  William,  please  to  put  that 
ivory  knife  down ;  you  twist  it  about  till  you  will  certainly 
bring  on  one  of  my  fits  of  giddiness." 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  my  love ;  I  dare  say  it  is  a  tiresome 
trick  of  mine.  Had  you  not  better  come  out  into  the 
open  air  a  little,  dearest?  " 

"  No,  I  thank  you,"  she  said,  in  a  resigned  tone.  "  It 
is  kind  of  you  to  suggest  it,  dear  Willy;  but  unless  it 
would  give  you  any  pleasure  I  had  rather  not  catch  a 
bad  cold  in  addition  to  my  other  ailments.  Do  you  find 
the  air  of  this  county  agree  with  you,  Miss  Forrester?  " 

"  Any  air  agrees  with  me,"  said  Mary;  "  I  am  never  ill." 


200  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

"  I  wish  you  could  persuade  Sophia  not  to  think  herself 
ill,"  said  Sir  William;  "indeed,  nobody  but  herself  does 
think  so." 

Lady  Sophia  gave  a  smile  of  resignation  as  if  forgiving 
him  for  insulting  her  dying  agonies,  but  added,  in  the  most 
caressing  tone,  "  Poor  dear  Willy,  I  wish  I  had  better 
health  for  your  sake.  Do  open  the  window,  dear,  I  feel 
faint." 

"  Were  not  you  rather  surprised.  Lady  Eskdale,"  said 
Mrs.  Douglas,  "  to  find  Lady  Teviot  returning  to  you  so 
soon?  it  must  seem  as  if  she  had  never  left  you.  It  is 
really  a  consolation  to  know  that  we  mothers  are  not  to 
lose  our  children  by  their  marrying :  not  that  I  expect  my 
Sarah  will  ever  come  to  Thornbank  without  Mr.  Went- 
worth." 

"  No,  I  would  advise  you  to  keep  him  out  of  political 
life;  it  is  a  complete  knock-up  to  all  comfort.  I  had  set 
my  heart  on  having  dear  Teviot  here  for  a  comfortable 
long  visit,  as  we  had  been  hurried  away  from  St.  Mary's; 
but  it  was  very  nice  of  him  to  let  Helen  come." 

"  I  saw  in  the  papers  that  Lord  Teviot  was  detained  in 
town,  and  had  been  dining  at  Lord  Portmore's." 

"Yes,  but  we  have  had  letters  from  him  at  Lisbon; 
and  it  was  fortunate  for  Teviot  in  the  meantime  that  the 
Portmores  were  detained  in  town,  as  theirs  is  almost  the 
only  house  open  just  now." 

"  I  own  I  should  not  think  it  good  fortune  to  be  thrown 
into  Lady  Portmore's  society  anywhere  or  anyhow,"  said 
Mrs.  Douglas,  sharply;    "  I  dislike  her  extremely." 

"  Oh,  poor  thing!  some  people  do  not  take  to  her;  but 
she  is  rather  a  favourite  with  most  of  my  family :  my  son 
and  my  nephew  both  like  her." 

"  So  she  gave  me  to  understand,"  said  Mrs.  Douglas, 
so  drily  that  there  was  a  pause. 

"Are  you  counting  your  features,   love?"   said  Lady 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  201 

Sophia,  as  Sir  William  passed  his  hand  over  his  face.  "  I 
hope  they  are  all  safe  ";  and  to  the  astonishment  of  Mrs. 
Douglas,  who  had  hoped  to  see  a  little  domestic  quarrel, 
he  burst  into  a  genuine  laugh,  and  seemed  flattered  by 
his  wife's  flippancy,  and  assured  her  that  he  was  happy 
to  say  they  were  all  right. 

Soon  after  this  Mrs.  Douglas  concluded  her  visit,  and 
no  sooner  was  the  door  closed  than  Lady  Sophia  jumped 
up  from  her  sofa  with  a  laugh,  and  said,  "  There!  I  have 
done  it  handsomely.  I  hear  Mrs.  Douglas  says  I  am  full 
of  fancies,  and  worry  Willy's  heart  out ;  so  I  have  done 
my  little  possible  to  save  her  from  the  sin  of  spreading 
false  reports.  Mind,  Willy,  I  do  not  give  up  the  fact  of 
my  bad  health,  but  I  do  not  worry  your  heart  out,  do  I  ?  " 

"  No,  my  dear;  on  the  contrary,  you  amuse  me  to  the 
greatest  degree  by  your  good  spirits,  which  I  look  upon 
as  a  proof  of  your  excellent  health,  and  by  all  your  little 
fancied  ailments;  and  upon  the  whole  I  should  be  sorry 
if  you  gave  up  this  delusion.  It  makes  you  very  diverting; 
so  come  and  take  a  walk." 

"  It  is  very  bad  for  me  to  go  out  in  the  east  wind,"  she 
said,  but  smiled  and  put  on  her  bonnet.  Sir  William 
wrapping  her  shawl  carefully  around  her. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

Yes,  Helen  had  returned  again  to  her  home.  Again 
she  was  with  those  dear  ones  who  had  never  looked  at  her 
but  with  admiration,  and  never  spoken  to  her  but  with 
tenderness — again  with  those  who  had  encircled  her 
youthful  days  with  blessings  and  love,  and  whom  she  had 
yearned  to  see  with  the  deep  longing  of  young  affection. 
But  she  was  not  so  happy  when  restored  to  them — at  least, 
not  quite  so  happy — as  she  had  expected  to  be :  there  was 
a  doubt  whether  she  had  done  what  was  right ;  there  was 
a  sHght  feeling  of  mortification  when  she  compared  her 
sisters  with  herself,  and  saw  their  husbands  treated  as  sons 
of  the  house,  while  she  had  returned  unaccompanied  by 
hers.  She  felt  discontented  with  her  own  loneliness  as 
she  saw  their  fullness  of  companionship.  The  harsh  words 
that  used  to  terrify  her  were  softened  down  by  time  and 
absence;  they  faded  away  as  all  offences  will  fade  when 
the  heart  is  tender  and  the  mind  well  regulated ;  and  the 
glowing  words  of  love,  the  deep  tones  of  passionate  adora- 
tion, came  back — 

"  Apparelled  in  more  precious  habit, 
More  moving  delicate,  and  full  of  life," 

than  when  she  heard  them  from  the  lips  of  her  husband. 
Sometimes  the  recollection  of  them  stirred  her  very  soul, 
and  she  pondered  over  them  till  she  wondered  at  her  own 
coldness,  till  she  hated  herself  for  not  having  prized  them 
more,  and  began  to  pine  for  that  from  which  she  had 
voluntarily  fled. 

202 


THE  SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  203 

"  For  it  so  falls  out, 
That  what  we  have  we  prize  not  to  the  worth 
While  we  enjoy  it,  but,  being  lack'd  and  lost. 
Why,  then  we  reach  its  value  ;   then  we  find 
The  virtue  that  possession  did  not  show  us 
While  it  was  ours.     So  did  it  fare  with  Claudio." 

And  so  was  it  beginning  to  fare  with  Helen.  Moreover, 
she  had  not  the  same  timidity  in  writing  to  her  husband 
that  she  had  felt  in  speaking  to  him;  and  the  natural 
playfulness  of  her  disposition  sometimes  broke  out  in  her 
letters  with  far  less  restraint  than  she  had  felt  in  his  actual 
presence.  He  too  wrote  to  her  openly,  and  she  seemed  to 
herself  to  grow  better  acquainted  with  him  by  writing 
than  she  had  by  words.  Then  she  became  curious  to 
know  what  her  own  family  thought  of  her  position ;  how 
much  Beaufort  had  observed  at  St.  Mary's,  and  how  much 
of  the  result  of  his  observations  he  might  have  imparted 
to  his  mother.  But  in  this  respect  she  was  soon  reassured. 
Lady  Eskdale  had  been  dorlotee  through  a  prosperous  life 
into  a  quiet  belief  that  everything  was  for  the  best ;  and 
well  might  she  think  so,  for  she  had  had  the  best  of  every- 
thing; and  she  could  not  imagine  for  a  moment  that  her 
daughters  were  not  to  be  as  happy  as  she  had  been  in 
their  married  lives;  or  happier,  inasmuch  as  she  thought 
them  more  perfect  than  herself  Therefore  she  merely 
lamented  over  dear  Teviot's  absence  as  a  misfortune 
rendered  endurable  because  it  must  be  short;  and  she 
admired  Helen  more  than  ever  for  submitting  with  apparent 
fortitude  to  such  a  heavy  trial.  Lord  Eskdale  had  the 
real  manly  political  feeling  about  it.  He  would  have 
thought  it  the  height  of  absurdity  if  Helen  had  undertaken 
a  voyage  at  that  season,  and  with  the  prospect  of  such  a 
short  stay;  and  his  cares  turned  solely  on  the  success  of 
Lord  Teviot's  negotiation,  and  the  effect  it  might  have 
on  parties  at  home  and  abroad.  And  as  he  was  in  the 
habit   every   session   of  speaking — his    enemies   called   it 


204  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

prosing — on  the  subject  of  foreign  politics,  he  was  delighted 
with  the  prospect  of  the  information  he  should  obtain 
from  his  son-in-law,  and  the  certainty  of  good  facts  to  go 
upon;  a  point  in  which  his  speeches  had  hitherto  been 
rather  deficient. 

Amelia  was  the  only  one  whose  scrutiny  Helen  had  to 
dread,  if  dread  were  the  feeling  it  inspired ;  for,  in  fact, 
she  would  have  been  glad  to  talk  over  her  griefs  with  her 
sister  had  she  not  been  restrained  by  the  strong  rules  of 
discretion  which  Lady  Eskdale  had  laid  down  for  the 
guidance  of  her  daughters.  Still  she  hoped  that,  without 
infringing  her  duty,  she  might  consult  her  sister  on  some 
of  her  troubles;  but  Amelia  was  absorbed  in  her  baby, 
and  had  hardly  recovered  from  her  confinement;  and  at 
all  times  there  would  have  been  insuperable  difficulties  in 
making  her  comprehend  that  there  could  be  differences 
between  husband  and  wife;  so  for  the  present  Helen  was 
left  to  her  own  cogitations  and  Lord  Teviot's  letters,  and 
to  the  sense  of  her  own  inferiority  as  a  wife  and  a  happy 
woman  when  compared  with  her  sisters. 

Three  or  four  days  passed  away;  the  invalids  were  all 
well  again ;  the  usual  habits  of  the  house  were  resumed, 
various  guests  arrived,  and  Helen  drove  over  to  Thornbank 
to  claim  Mary  Forrester's  promised  visit.  Eliza  listened 
eagerly  to  the  names  of  the  company  at  Eskdale,  and  her 
disappointment  at  not  being  one  of  them  was  much  miti- 
gated when  she  found  that  her  hero  was  not  there;  and 
on  mature  deliberation  she  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
as  only  a  certain  number  of  the  days  of  her  life  could  be 
passed  at  Eskdale,  it  would  be  a  bad  speculation  to  waste 
any  of  them  on  such  a  very  incomplete  party.  So  she  was 
prepared  with  arguments  against  Mrs.  Douglas's  view  of 
the  case,  which  differed  materially  from  hers. 

"  Well,  that  visit  is  over.  I  rather  thought  I  liked 
Miss  Forrester  while  she  was  here;    but  somehow  I  am 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  205 

not  sorry  she  is  gone.  I  always  think  that  having 
people  to  stay  in  one's  house  gives  more  trouble  than 
pleasure." 

"  But  Mary  did  not  give  much  trouble,  mamma." 

"  I  do  not  know  what  you  call  trouble,  my  dear;  but 
there  was  a  fire  in  her  room  all  day;  and  we  always  had 
game  for  second  course,  and  she  drinks  cocoa  at  breakfast, 
which  is  quite  ridiculous.  That  is  one  of  the  pretensions 
which  young  people  set  up  in  these  days;  they  care  about 
their  diet;  that  was  never  allowed  in  my  time.  I  should 
like  to  have  seen  my  aunt's  face  if  I  had  asked  for  cocoa 
for  breakfast  when  I  was  a  girl." 

"  She  has  pleasant,  lively  manners,"  said  Mr.  Douglas. 

"  And  likes  a  joke,"  added  Mr.  Wentworth.  "  How 
she  laughed  at  my  story  about  Hammond !  " 

"I  don't  wonder,"  said  Sarah;  "there  are  no  stories 
so  amusing  as  yours." 

"  You  have  not  heard  the  fiftieth  part  of  them  yet. 
Why,  when  I  was  at  Christchurch,  Thompson,  Hammond, 
and  I  used  sometimes  to  sit  up  till  two  in  the  morning, 
telling  good  stories;  and  I  suppose  you  never  heard  any- 
thing more  amusing.  Lady  Teviot  laughed  at  my  pun 
about  rain,  did  not  she,  Sarah?  " 

"  That  she  did;   she  was  quite  delighted  with  it." 

"  The  Beauforts  all  laugh  as  if  they  thought  they  had 
good  teeth,"  said  Mrs.  Douglas. 

"  And  so  they  have,  Anne." 

"  My  dear,  I  am  not  disputing  the  fact,  I  merely  observe 
that  they  are  convinced  of  it  themselves.  Eliza,  did  Lady 
Teviot  say  anything  to  you  about  going  there?  " 

"  No,  mamma;   she  said  Lady  Eskdale  sent  her  love." 

"  What  wonderful  munificence !  and  Lady  Teviot 
brought  it  quite  safe  all  the  way  from  the  Castle.  How 
very  kind!  I  suppose  when  Lady  Eskdale  is  left  alone 
again  you  will  be  sent  for." 


2o6  THE  SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

"  I  shall  like  it  just  as  well,  mamma,  when  there  is  only 
a  family  party  as  when  the  house  is  full." 

"  I  hope  you  will  be  invited  then,  my  child ;  but  I 
would  not  advise  you  to  trust  in  any  of  these  fine  people ; 
the  Eskdales  above  all." 

"  They  ought  not  to  give  themselves  airs,"  said  Mr. 
Wentworth;  "  I  consider  them  quite  a  new  family.  I  do 
not  believe  they  were  heard  of  before  Henry  the  Seventh's 
time.  My  family  dates  back  to  the  Conquest;  and  they 
have  as  little  right  to  look  down  on  Douglases  as  on 
Wentworths,  if  I  am  not  mistaken." 

"  No  right  upon  earth,"  said  Mrs.  Douglas,  "  but  that 
they  choose  to  set  up  for  great  people.  I  am  not  sorry 
they  have  not  asked  Eliza ;  though  I  shall  always  say  it  is 
very  odd  they  have  not;  but  nobody  can  live  much  with 
them  without  being  more  or  less  spoiled.  Miss  Forrester 
was  civil  enough  while  she  was  here,  but  she  will  be  just 
like  all  the  rest  of  that  set  when  she  has  been  with  them 
a  week.  I  beg  to  observe  that  Lady  Sophia  has  not  called 
here  at  all ;  and  it  would  not  the  least  surprise  me  if  Lady 
Walden  were  not  to  send  over  a  card  of  thanks,  though 
I  sent  to  inquire  after  her  at  immense  inconvenience  to 
myself." 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

Lord  Teviot  had  been  absent  nearly  five  weeks,  which 
had  passed  smoothly  and  pleasantly  away  at  Eskdale 
Castle,  when  a  sudden  change  of  affairs  took  place ;  not 
only  there,  but  all  over  England,  to  say  nothing  of  Scotland 
and  Ireland.  The  hapless  individual  who  filled  the  office 
of  Prime  Minister  under  the  gracious  King  of  the  above- 
named  countries,  having  borne  the  fatigues  of  the  situation 
for  five  years,  long  enough  to  have  become  unpopular  with 
the  people,  wearisome  to  the  King,  and  odious  to  all  his 
own  private  friends,  took  one  decided  step  to  regain  all 
he  had  lost  with  others,  and  to  obtain  a  little  rest  for 
himself— he  took  to  his  bed  and  died. 

His  Cabinet  was  broken  up.  It  had  been,  after  the 
usage  of  all  Cabinets,  divided  into  two  factions,  opposed 
on  all  important  points  to  each  other,  but  forming  what  is 
by  courtesy  called  a  united  Cabinet,  under  the  gentle  sway 
of  the  worn-out  nonentity  at  their  head.  He  was  gone. 
Six  or  seven  newspapers,  with  broad  black  borders, 
announced  the  death  of  one  of  the  greatest  men  of  the 
age, — recommended  Westminster  Abbey, — a  subscription 
for  a  monument, — and  one  of  his  colleagues  for  a  successor. 
An  equal  number  of  papers,  after  professing,  with  becom- 
ing candour  and  humanity,  that  they  warred  not  with  the 
dead,  raked  up  all  the  old  scandal  they  could  collect  against 
the  deceased,  denied  him  any  talent  whatever,  and  explained 
away  all  his  virtues;  they  prophesied  the  utter  annihila- 
tion of  the  ministerial  party,  and  announced  that  in  twenty- 
four  hours  they  should  be  able  to  give  a  correct  list  of  the 

207 


2o8  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

new  Cabinet  about  to  be  formed  by  the  powerful  leader 
of  the  Opposition.  All  the  idle  men  in  London  rushed  to 
their  clubs,  and  such  high  betting  had  not  been  known 
since  the  last  Epsom  races. 

After  three  days  of  wonderment,  the  King  decided  the 
bets  by  sending  for  Mr.  G.  The  clubs  were  more  thronged 
and  more  agitated  than  ever.  One-half  of  St.  James's 
Street  said  that  England  was  lost,  that  the  real  crisis  had 
come  at  last  (there  is  generally  a  false  crisis  every  Easter, 
in  which  England  is  all  but  lost,  but  she  is  found  again 
towards  Whitsuntide),  and  that  Church  and  State,  King 
and  kingdom,  Lords  and  Commons,  were  all  to  be  knocked 
on  the  head  at  once.  The  club  on  the  opposition  side 
of  the  street  was  in  ecstasies ;  its  members  shook  each  other 
by  the  hand  till  their  arms  ached;  they  declared  the 
King  to  be  the  wisest  monarch  that  had  ever  reigned,  and 
Mr.  G.  the  greatest  statesman  that  had  ever  governed; 
that  the  country  was  saved,  and  revolution  arrested.  They 
met  but  to  rejoice  over  the  public  good,  and  parted  but  to 
make  private  offers  of  their  services  to  Mr.  G. 

And  Fisherwick!  how  felt  he?  Never  was  there  so 
happy  a  man ;  the  world  was  not  large  enough  to  contain 
him,  nothing  was  but  the  great  room  in  Downing  Street, 
which  to  him  was  greater  than  the  world  itself  He  wrote 
faster  than  ever,  and  his  adoration  of  his  chief  was  yet 
more  fervent ;  and  when  the  list  of  the  new  ministry  was 
drawn  up  by  his  own  hand  for  the  favoured  evening  paper, 
and  when  he  had  added  thereto  a  paragraph  announcing 
that  Samuel  Obadiah  Fisherwick,  Esq.,  had  been  appointed 
private  secretary  to  the  new  premier,  he  felt  that  life  had 
nothing  greater  to  give.  He  had  reached  the  summit  of 
his  Mont  Blanc. 

Mr.  G.'s  first  measure  was  a  dissolution  of  parliament. 
The  roads  swarmed  with  carriages,  and  the  papers  with 
addresses,  the  dying  hatreds  of  former  contests  were  roused 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  209 

into  fresh  life,  and  country  houses  became  merely  election 
committee  rooms.  Lord  Teviot's  name  had  been  one  of 
the  first  on  Mr.  G.'s  list  of  his  Cabinet,  and  a  messenger 
had  been  despatched  to  recall  him  from  Portugal.  This 
appointment  of  his  son-in-law  gave  additional  energy  to 
Lord  Eskdale's  ministerial  politics.  His  son  had  been 
member  for  the  neighbouring  town  of  Boroughford  in  the 
last  parliament ;  and  if  by  any  degree  of  exertion  or  expense 
— a  gentlemanlike  term  for  bribery — he  could  return  his 
nephew  for  the  second  seat,  it  would  be  in  many  respects 
a  clever  stroke  of  policy.  He  should  bring  another  vote  in 
aid  of  the  great  G.  cause ;  he  should  have  the  honour  and 
glory  of  possessing,  to  all  appearance,  a  borough  of  his  own; 
and  he  should  inflict  a  mortal  blow  on  the  Duke  of 
Broughton,  the  lord-lieutenant  of  the  county,  with  whose 
family  he  had  invariably  been  on  terms  of  polite  rivalry 
and  civil  hatred,  and  who  at  the  last  election  had  contrived 
to  insinuate  one  of  his  own  nephews,  Captain  Luttridge, 
into  the  borough. 

The  only  great  difficulty  Lord  Eskdale  anticipated  was 
with  Colonel  Beaufort  himself,  whose  habits  of  indolence 
would  be  much  opposed  to  the  work  of  canvassing.  But 
in  this  he  was  mistaken.  There  is  no  stage  of  inertness  and 
don't-carishness  from  which  an  Englishman  may  not  be 
roused  by  the  stimulus  of  politics ;  and  a  contested  election 
is  perhaps  one  of  the  finest  remedies  that  can  be  applied  to 
a  confirmed  languor,  either  of  mind  or  body.  Ernest 
caught  eagerly  at  his  uncle's  proposal,  travelled  all  night 
from  town,  and  started  on  his  canvass  with  his  cousin  an 
hour  after  his  arrival,  passed  eleven  hours  on  visits  to  the 
electors,  and  ended  the  day  by  making  a  speech  at  the 
Eskdale  Arms  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  dirty-looking  men, 
all  smoking  bad  tobacco,  and  drinking  worse  beer;  and 
most  of  whom  were  sufficiently  drunk  to  insist  on  shaking 
hands  with  him  four  or  five  times  in  the  course  of  the  even- 
o 


2IO  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

ing.  And  yet  when  he  and  Lord  Beaufort  returned  home 
at  night,  thirsty,  tired,  and  smoke-dried,  they  declared 
they  had  had  a  "  glorious  day,"  and  never  saw  a  finer  set 
of  fellows  than  the  electors  of  Boroughford. 

"  We  shall  beat  the  duke  out  of  the  field,"  said  Lord 
Beaufort  to  his  father.  "  Luttridge  was  going  sneaking 
about  the  town  with  only  half  the  number  of  supporters 
he  had  last  time ;  and  I  cannot  hear  of  a  second  candidate 
on  their  side.  Besides,  we  have  gained  a  valuable  friend; 
Tom  Rogerson  is  heart  and  soul  with  us." 

"  That  is  indeed  a  great  coup,""  said  Lord  Eskdale. 
"  He  has  cut  the  pinks  dead,  and  is  on  our  committee." 

"  What  a  clever  speech  he  made  at  the  Magpie  and 
Stump !  "  said  Ernest.  "  Eh,  Beaufort,  did  it  not  strike 
you  as  something  out  of  the  common  way?  " 

"  Yes,  excellent;  but  in  election  matters  Tom  Rogerson 
has  not  his  equal  on  earth." 

"  Who  is  he,  my  dear?  "  said  Lady  Eskdale.  "  Where 
does  he  live?  " 

"Don't  you  know  him?"  said  Ernest.  "Well,  I  am 
astonished.  I  should  have  thought  you  must  have  known 
Mr.  Rogerson,  a  neighbour;  a  man  of  talent,  and  a  voter." 

"  No,  my  dear,  I  never  heard  of  him  till  this  moment; 
but  I  will  ask  him  to  dinner  forthwith." 

*'Oh!  pray  do,  there's  a  dear;  he  will  be  delighted 
to  come :  perhaps  your  hours  are  later  than  he  is  used  to ; 
but  for  once  he  might  put  up  with  that." 

"  Or  we  might  dine  earlier.  I  should  not  mind  dining 
at  seven  to  oblige  a  friend  of  yours ;  but  where  is  he  to  be 
found?" 

"  I  can  give  him  your  card  when  I  see  him  to-morrow; 
he  is  very  little  at  home  now,  but  his  ordinary  abode  is 
the  front  attic  of  No.  4,  Hopscotch  Alley,  near  the  old 
market.  I  am  not  quite  sure  of  the  number,  though  I 
know  Hopscotch  Alley  is  the  place." 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  211 

"  Now,  my  dear  Beaufort,  what  does  he  mean?  " 

"  Do  not  mind  what  he  says,  dear;  he  is  only  trying  to 
mystify  you;  the  real  truth  being,  that  Tom  Rogerson  is 
a  valuable  ally,  solely  from  his  intimacy  with  all  the  rogues 
and  knaves  in  the  borough.  He  once  kept  an  ale-house, 
and  is  now  a  very  idle  cobbler ;  but  he  is  one  of  those  odd 
shrewd  characters  who  in  all  times  of  popular  excitement 
make  the  fortunes  of  the  party  to  which  they  attach  them- 
selves. We  expect  Rogerson  will  bring  us  in  at  least  forty 
votes." 

"  Oh  !  here  is  his  name  in  my  polling-book,"  said  Helen, 
who  was  turning  over  the  leaves  of  a  small  pamphlet. 

"  My  dear  Helen,"  cried  Ernest,  "  what  is  that  you  say? 
your  polling-book?  " 

"  Yes,  we  have  each  got  a  polling-book,  a  list  of  voters, 
or  whatever  you  call  it,  and  have  been  studying  them  all 
day  to  see  if  there  are  any  of  our  tradespeople  or  old 
friends  in  the  village  whom  we  could  persuade  to  vote  for 
you." 

"No,  have  you  really?  what  treasures  you  all  are! 
If  I  were  not  so  tired  and  smoky  I  should  be  tempted  to 
make  a  complete  tour  of  the  room,  just  to  kiss  all  your 
little  hands.  And  there  are  several  cases  in  which  you 
may  be  of  use  to  us.  We  want  you  to  order  a  bonnet, 
which  you  need  not  wear,  at  Mrs.  Vere's.  Vere  pretends 
to  have  opinions  about  Church  reform." 

"  Yes,  and  Giles  the  ironmonger  would  not  give  us 
any  promise  to-day." 

"Impossible,  my  dear  Beaufort,"  said  Lady  Eskdale; 
"  he  has  just  finished  all  the  ornamental  wire- work  for  my 
new  garden;   he  ought  to  be  devoted  to  us." 

"  He  ought,  but  he  is  not;  for  the  duke  has  been  speak- 
ing to  him  about  iron  flues  for  his  hothouses." 

"  That  is  actual  bribery,"  said  Lady  Eskdale,  rising  into 
real  election  energy;  "  but,  if  it  comes  to  that,  your  father 


212  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

is  going  to  have  iron  hurdles  all  round  the  pleasure-ground, 
and  I  may  as  well  speak  to  Giles  about  them  to-morrow." 

"  Then  could  you  not  call  on  Mrs.  Birkett,  and  say 
something  a  little  civil  to  her  to-morrow?  " 

"  Why,  you  do  not  mean  to  say,"  said  Lady  Walden, 
laughing,  "  that  Mr.  Birkett  presumes  to  have  any  political 
opinions  of  his  own,  after  having  attended  me  so  lately, 
and  with  the  hope  of  vaccinating  baby  still  before  his 
eyes?  " 

"  I  do  not  exactly  make  him  out;  he  said  he  should 
not  like  to  disobHge  the  family,  but  that  he  would  rather 
not  pledge  himself;  that  the  duchess  had  asked  Mrs.  Birkett 
to  her  last  ball,  and  that  this  was  a  great  political  crisis, 
and  so  on.  I  do  not  know  what  plot  is  hatching,  but  I 
fully  expect  the  duke's  agent  will  start  a  second  candidate, 
and  that  people  are  hanging  back  till  they  see  who  he  is. 
Mr.  Douglas  was  rather  stiff,  I  thought,  to-day." 

"Impossible,  Beaufort;  the  Douglases  must  be  with 
us,"  said  Lady  Walden.     "  Mrs.  Douglas  hates  the  duchess." 

"Yes;  but  that  is  no  great  distinction  likely  to  tell  in 
our  favour.     Mrs.  Douglas  hates  so  many  people." 

"  And  Mr.  Douglas  was  on  your  committee  last  time,  and 
he  is  such  an  excellent  man." 

"Very  true,  so  far  as  his  excellence  goes;  but  he  has 
declined  being  on  our  committee  now." 

"  Yes,  there  is  a  screw  loose  with  the  clan  of  Douglas 
evidently,"  said  Ernest,  "  and  if  I  had  but  time  I  should 
like  to  ride  over  and  pay  a  few  delicate  attentions  to  my 
httle  Miss  Douglas." 

"  We  will  all  drive  over  there  to-morrow,"  said  Lady 
Eskdale,  "  and  take  Mrs.  Birkett  in  our  way :  indeed,  I 
believe  Mary  Forrester  was  at  Thornbank  yesterday ;  were 
not  you,  my  dear?  " 

"  Yes,  I  was,  but  I  think  with  Colonel  Beaufort,  though 
not  exactly  in  his  words,  that  there  is  a  screw  loose.     Mrs. 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  213 

Douglas  was  very  cold  about  the  election,  and  Eliza  seemed 
out  of  spirits." 

"  We  must  try  what  we  can  do  to-morrow  and  bring 
Eliza  back  with  us ;  so  now  to  bed." 

"It  is  time  to  go  to  bed,"  said  Lord  Beaufort,  lighting 
his  candle,  "  for  we  must  be  in  Boroughford  by  nine.  Are 
you  equal  to  that  exertion,  Ernest?  " 

"By  nine,  my  dear  fellow!  that  is  full  late.  I  should 
have  said  eight;   but  then  I  hate  anything  like  indolence." 


CHAPTER   XXXVII 

The  mysterious  coldness  of  the  Douglases  was  unpleas- 
antly explained  the  next  day.  The  Duke  of  Broughton 
found  it  necessary  to  propose  a  second  candidate,  and  he 
thought  it  advisable  to  choose  a  gentleman  connected  with 
the  borough,  rather  than  one  of  his  own  adherents.  A 
requisition  was  got  up  in  a  few  hours,  and  a  deputation 
appointed  to  convey  it  to  Mr.  Douglas,  and  he  was  also 
assured  by  the  duke's  agent  that  he  should  be  returned 
free  of  all  expense  if  he  would  consent  to  be  put  in 
nomination. 

Mr.  Douglas  would  rather  have  declined  the  honour; 
he  was  no  politician,  he  did  not  fancy  the  trouble  of  can- 
vassing, and,  above  all,  he  did  not  like  the  idea  of  opposing 
the  Eskdales.  But  this  last  contingency  naturally  delighted 
Mrs.  Douglas,  and  her  weight  was  forthwith  thrown  into 
the  Broughton  scale.  The  chateau  qui  parle  et  femme  qui 
ecoute  are  not  more  certain  to  capitulate  than  is  the 
English  gentleman  who  ponders  over  the  requisition  of  a 
body  of  electors.  After  walking  at  least  five  miles  up  and 
down  his  library,  contradicting  in  a  sort  of  snappish  agony 
every  suggestion  made  by  his  wife,  by  Mr.  Wentworth, 
and  by  Scrimshaw,  the  duke's  agent,  and  after  having 
declared  fourteen  several  times  that  nothing  should  induce 
him  to  undertake  the  task  of  an  election,  he  was  sufficiently 
composed  to  sit  down  and  write,  under  the  dictation  of 
Scrimshaw,  his  address  to  the  electors,  soliciting  their  votes. 
And  at  the  moment  in  which  Lady  Eskdale  drove  to  the 
door  to  solicit  his  support,  he  was  making  his  entry  into 

214 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  215 

the  town,  preceded  by  two  pink  banners,  and  followed  by 
Scrimshaw  and  ten  shabby-looking  men  on  horseback, 
riders  and  steeds  covered  with  pink  ribbons.  The  pinks 
said  it  was  a  very  fine  procession ;  the  blues  pitied  "  poor 
old  Douglas  "  firom  the  bottom  of  their  souls  for  being 
mixed  up  with  a  paltry  set  of  scamps,  and  for  looking  so 
"  like  a  guy  "  himself  And  now  war  was  declared  in 
good  earnest. 

The  duke's  nominees,  as  the  opposite  party  of  course 
termed  Mr.  Douglas  and  Captain  Luttridge,  were  backed 
by  many  of  the  richer  tradespeople,  but  they  were  un- 
popular with  the  mob;  and,  therefore,  whatever  might 
be  the  real  results  of  the  strife,  its  pleasures,  while  it  lasted, 
were  for  the  Beauforts.  Ever,  while  you  live,  choose  the 
popular  side  in  an  election ;  that  is,  if  you  have  no  par- 
ticular regard  for  the  good  of  your  country,  and  no  par- 
ticular political  prejudices  of  your  own;  for  there  is  no 
comparison  between  a  reception  of  cheers,  applause,  and 
good-will,  and  one  of  cabbage-stalks,  groans,  and  bad 
eggs.  Besides,  there  is  something  exhilarating  in  the  real, 
genuine  affection  (while  it  lasts)  of  a  mob  for  their  favourite 
of  a  day.  Lady  Eskdale  and  her  daughters  had  the  full 
enjoyment  of  this  position :  they  drove  into  the  town  con- 
stantly, and  seemed  suddenly  to  have  discovered  that  they 
were  without  any  of  the  necessaries  or  luxuries  of  life,  for 
the  extent  of  their  dealings  with  well-thinking  tradespeople 
was  prodigious,  and  it  might  have  been  supposed  that 
they  were  covertly  sullying  the  purity  of  election ;  but,  as 
they  justly  alleged,  shopping  was  what  every  woman  was 
born  for,  and  could  not,  under  any  circumstances,  be 
considered  illegal ;  and  every  day  they  were  received  with 
cheers  and  applause  by  all  the  little  dirty  boys  of  the  place, 
screaming  like  so  many  animated  hurdy-gurdies,  "  Beaufort 
for  ever !    the  Colonel  for  ever !  " 

Sometimes  they  met  Mr.  Douglas  emerging  from  a  careful 


2i6  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

canvass  of  Five  Courts  Lane,  or  Stitcher's  Row,  and  at 
first  they  thought  it  magnanimous  to  stop  and  shake  hands 
with  him.  This  greeting  soon  dwindled  into  a  bow  and 
a  forced  smile,  with  the  remark  that  after  all  he  had  not 
behaved  well  to  Beaufort;  and  at  last  they  turned  away 
their  heads  when  they  saw  the  pinks  coming,  and  Lady 
Sophia  asked  her  mother  if  she  did  not  rather  hate  the 
sight  of  old  Douglas. 

The  day  of  election  arrived.  Lord  Beaufort  and  his 
cousin  rode  into  the  town,  accompanied  by  a  long  train 
of  Lord  Eskdale's  tenantry ;  and  shortly  after,  Lady  Esk- 
dale,  with  the  Waldegraves  and  Amelia,  followed  in  her 
carriage;  while  Lady  Teviot  drove  Miss  Forrester  in  her 
pony  phaeton.  They  were  all  deposited  in  the  second 
floor  of  the  house  of  Mrs.  Harris,  the  milliner,  which 
looked  on  the  hustings.  An  election  was  a  new  sight  to 
them,  and  they  were,  in  their  various  ways,  worked  up  to 
a  high  pitch  of  excitement.  Mrs.  Harris  was  overflowing 
with  politeness,  proud  to  receive  "  the  Countess,"  prouder 
that  she  should  be  consulted  on  the  probable  results  of 
the  election,  and  proudest  that  she  had  made  Harris  vote 
against  his  conscience  and  inclination  for  my  lord  and  the 
colonel. 

Mrs.  Douglas  and  her  daughters  were  at  the  Broughton 
Arms,  at  the  opposite  corner  of  the  market-place,  and 
well  was  it  for  Eliza  that  pink  was  the  badge  of  her  party ; 
it  was  her  only  chance  of  a  tinge  of  colour,  for  she  was  as 
pale  as  ashes  at  the  shocking  contest  between  her  father 
and  her  lover,  as  in  her  inmost  heart  she  designated  Colonel 
Beaufort.  She  looked  upon  her  position  as  one  of  unpre- 
cedented difficulty,  only  to  be  paralleled  perhaps  by  that 
of  the  daughter  of  Horatius,  who  figures  in  that  interesting 
old  romance  which  we  obligingly  call  the  Roman  history. 
She  had  not  seen  Colonel  Beaufort  since  his  arrival,  and 
now  she  was  to  appear  to  him  decked  out  in  this  inimical 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  217 

colour.     Moreover,  he  and  his  cousin  were  never  named 
now  by  Mrs.  Douglas  but  as  "  those  horrid  Beauforts." 

The  polling  began,  and  for  three  hours  was  nearly  equal 
on  both  sides;  but  at  two  o'clock  Captain  Luttridge  was 
at  the  head  of  the  poll,  and  Mr.  Douglas  was  five  ahead 
of  Lord  Beaufort,  and  eight  of  his  cousin.  Mrs.  Douglas 
was  delighted,  threw  open  the  window,  and  looked  out 
with  many  smiles  and  much  affectation.  Lady  Eskdale 
was  low,  and  sent  off  a  groom  with  a  bulletin  to  Lord 
Eskdale,  and  tried  to  eat  half  a  sandwich  and  drink  a 
quarter  of  a  glass  of  gooseberry  wine,  assuring  Mrs.  Harris 
that  her  bread  and  butter  were  superior  to  any  at  the 
Castle,  and  that  she  should  have  taken  the  gooseberry 
wine  for  champagne  if  she  had  not  been  forewarned. 
Helen  felt  sure  that  the  next  hour  would  do  wonders; 
and  Lady  Sophia  complained  of  her  headache,  and  begged 
Sir  William  to  stay  quietly  in  the  room,  and  not  go  and 
get  crushed  in  the  crowd. 

The  pinks  marched  by  the  window  with  their  band 
playing  and  their  banners  streaming,  and  the  mob  groaned. 
Mr.  Mullins  and  Mr.  Dickson,  and  Mr.  Wyvill  and  Mr. 
Winthrop,  of  the  Beaufort  committee — all  great  men  in 
that,  their  day — rushed  up  the  stairs  at  intervals  to  beg 
Lady  Eskdale  would  not  be  alarmed,  everything  was  going 
on  well — they  were  sure  to  win.  Lord  Beaufort  himself 
put  his  head  in  and  said  "  Don't  be  afraid,  all's  right " ; 
and  Ernest,  who  was  strutting  about  the  town  with  Tom 
Rogerson,  who  had  a  very  red  face,  and  a  great  hole  in  his 
coat-sleeve,  looked  up  and  nodded  a  nod  of  encouragement. 

Three  o'clock  came.  The  state  of  the  poll  still  worse ; 
Lord  Beaufort  twelve  in  arrear,  and  Colonel  Beaufort 
twenty-one.  Mrs.  Douglas  could  not  control  her  delight, 
and  added  much  to  it  by  making  signs  of  astonishment, 
and  throwing  looks  of  commiseration  in  the  direction  of 
Mrs.  Harris's  house.     Lady  Eskdale  sent  off  another  groom 


2i8  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

to  Lord  Eskdale,  and  tried  to  finish  her  sandwich,  but 
thought  the  bread  was  dry  and  the  butter  strong,  and 
again  sipped  her  gooseberry  wine,  and  avowed  that  she 
never  quite  Hked  home-made  wines.  Lady  Sophia's  head- 
ache was  exchanged  for  a  violent  palpitation,  and  she 
could  not  recover  her  astonishment  that  Sir  William  could 
remain  quietly  in  the  room,  and  was  not  exerting  himself 
in  the  town. 

The  band  of  the  pinks  played  louder  than  ever,  and  the 
groans  of  the  mob  became  fiercer.  Again  Mullins,  Dickson, 
Wyvill,  and  Winthrop  rushed  from  the  various  polling- 
booths  to  assert  that  all  was  going  on  well.  There  was 
of  course  the  most  shameful  bribery  and  intimidation  on 
the  other  side;  but  Mullins  would  stake  his  head,  and 
Dickson  would  pledge  his  life,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  com- 
mittee would  hazard  stakes  of  equal  value,  that  all  would 
end  well.  Lord  Beaufort  had  not  time  to  come  and  see 
them,  but  they  had  a  distant  view  of  Ernest  shaking  hands 
with  two  pink  butchers,  who  were  giving  up  their  colours ; 
Tom  Rogerson  standing  by,  his  arms  folded,  Coriolanus 
fashion,  and  his  torn  sleeve  nearly  detached  from  his  coat 
by  the  force  of  his  previous  gesticulations.  At  four  the 
first  day's  poll  closed,  and  the  numbers  were : — 

Luttridge  .  .  .  .  .317 
Douglas  .....  300 
Lord  Beaufort  .  .  .  .287 
Colonel  Beaufort  .         .         .         .278 

Deep  and  silent  consternation  in  Mr.  Harris's  parlour, 
and  riotous  congratulations  at  the  Broughton  Arms.  The 
mob  thickened  round  the  hustings,  ostensibly  to  hear  the 
speeches  of  the  candidates,  but,  in  fact,  to  prevent  a  word 
that  they  said  from  being  heard.  The  unpopular  gentle- 
men had  to  speak  first,  but,  except  by  the  movements  of 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  219 

their  lips  and  arms,  it  was  difficult  to  guess  whether  they 
made  any  attempt  to  address  their  friends.  The  groans 
and  hootings  of  the  crowd  below  never  ceased,  and  were 
intermingled  with  those  odd  accusations  generally  made 
by  a  mob  against  the  objects  of  their  spleen.  "  Now  for 
it,  Luttridge;  who  flogs  the  niggers?"  "What  was  your 
grandfather's  name?  "  "  Who  killed  the  young  donkey?  " 
"Take  a  little  donkey  broth;  it  is  good  for  the  poor": 
and  then  came  a  shower  of  thick  black  mud.  "  Want  a 
black  slave?  here's  one";  and  a  wretched  little  black 
kitten  was  thrown  in  Captain  Luttridge's  face.  But  a 
joke  is  a  joke  to  the  candidates  who  are  at  the  head  of  the 
poll ;  and  they  seemed  as  much  amused  as  their  assailants. 
When  Lord  Beaufort  appeared,  there  was  an  attempt  made 
at  silence,  with  such  success  that  several  words  and  half  of 
one  sentence  were  distinctly  heard;  and  Lady  Eskdale 
had  tears  in  her  eyes  when  she  thought  that  such  eloquence 
would  perhaps  be  lost  to  the  House  of  Commons.  Then 
Ernest  appeared,  and  made  an  oration  so  violent  in  words, 
and  so  languid  and  dawdling  in  manner,  that  it  tickled 
the  fancy  of  his  hearers,  and  made  even  Captain  Luttridge 
laugh.  And  then  the  fun  ceased  for  that  day,  so  far  as 
the  election  was  concerned. 

But  a  little  additional  excitement  was  provided  by  the 
energy  of  the  mob.  Lady  Eskdale's  barouche  drove  safely 
off,  and  was  soon  out  of  sight.  Helen  and  Miss  Forrester 
waited  five  minutes  longer,  talking  over  the  events  of  the 
day,  and  then,  as  a  few  drops  of  rain  began  to  fall.  Lord 
Beaufort  hurried  them  into  their  little  open  carriage,  and 
advised  Helen  to  make  the  best  of  her  way  home.  Either 
she  had  in  her  haste  given  the  ponies  their  head  too  soon, 
or  they  were  unused  to  be  cheered  on  their  way,  which 
was  their  fate  this  day,  but  so  it  was,  that  they  began  with 
a  little  kicking  and  snorting,  and  then  fairly  ran  away, 
which,  of  course,  made  several  little  boys  call  out,  "  Beau- 


220  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

fort  for  ever !  "  more  ecstatically  than  before.  Lord  Beau- 
fort and  Ernest  followed  at  full  gallop,  and  about  half-way 
to  the  Castle  they  found  the  phaeton  with  one  wheel  in 
a  ditchj  Helen  still  seated  in  it.  Miss  Forrester  standing  at 
the  ponies'  heads,  and  the  rain  falling  in  torrents. 

"  I  am  so  glad  you  are  come,"  said  Mary,  looking  at 
Colonel  Beaufort;    "  we  are  in  a  most  melancholy  plight." 

"Are  you  hurt?  tell  me,  Helen,  for  mercy's  sake," 
said  Lord  Beaufort,  springing  off  his  horse,  and  rushing 
up  to  her. 

"  No,  not  the  least,  but  very  much  frightened,"  said 
Lady  Teviot,  half  laughing,  half  crying.  "  I  thought 
at  first  we  were  overturned;  there  was  a  crash,  such  a 
horrid  crash " 

"  Yes,  the  pole  is  broken.  Colonel  Beaufort;  if  you  will 
have  the  kindness  to  take  my  place,  I  can  go  to  Helen, 
she  is  still  frightened  " ;  and  then  Mary  went  to  her,  and 
taking  off  her  own  cloak  wrapped  it  round  Lady  Teviot, 
so  as  to  defend  her  from  the  rain,  and  soothed  her,  and 
talked  so  naturally  and  calmly  that  Helen  began  to  recover 
her  nerves. 

"  But  how  did  you  escape  being  thrown  out?  "  said 
Lord  Beaufort,  who  was  still  pale  with  alarm.  "  What  a 
shock  you  must  have  had !  " 

"  She  had,  indeed,"  said  Mary;  "  but  it  is  all  over 
now,  is  not  it,  Helen,  dear?  I  sent  the  groom  on  to 
Eskdale  Castle  to  fetch  the  carriage;  and  now,  if  you 
would  try  to  walk  on  and  meet  it,  it  would  be  much  better 
for  you  than  sitting  there  in  the  rain.  Are  you  able  to 
walk,  love?  " 

"  Perfectly,  I  am  wiser  now,"  said  Lady  Teviot,  springing 
out;  "but  what  nerves  you  have,  Mary!  I  wanted  to 
jump  out  at  one  moment,  but  she  would  not  let  me,  and 
she  stretched  her  arms  out  before  me,  to  prevent  my  being 
thrown  out;    and  when  the  wheel  went  into  the  ditch, 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  221 

and  I  did  nothing  but  scream,  she  jumped  out,  and  ran 
to  those  dreadful  ponies'  heads,  and  talked  to  them,  and 
quieted  them,  though  they  were  kicking  dreadfully;  and 
when  the  groom  came  up  she  sent  him  off  for  a  carriage, 
and  warned  him  not  to  tell  mamma  what  had  happened. 
In  short,  she  thought  of  everything,  and  I  could  not  think 
of  anything  but  how  frightened  I  was." 

"  She  did  indeed  behave  gallantly,"  said  Lord  Beaufort; 
"  and  now  let  us  walk  on,  for  you  are  both  getting  wet. 
Luckily  there  is  the  carriage  in  sight." 

So,  leaving  Colonel  Beaufort's  servant  with  the  recusant 
ponies,  they  hurried  on;  the  ladies  were  hurried  into  the 
carriage,  and  the  gentlemen  rode  on  with  them.  Lord 
Beaufort  was  much  struck  by  Mary's  presence  of  mind 
and  cheerfulness  in  a  situation  that  was  trying,  to  say  the 
least  of  it ;  and  when  the  carriage  stopped  at  the  lodge 
gate,  he  rode  up  to  the  side  on  which  she  was  seated, 
and  said,  in  a  tone  of  great  interest,  "  May  I  ask  how  you 
feel?     I  fear  you  must  be  both  cold  and  exhausted." 

"  Your  sister  is  on  the  other  side,"  she  said.  "  Helen, 
Lord  Beaufort  has  come  to  ask  you  how  you  are." 

"  She  really  believes,"  he  thought  with  vexation,  "  that 
I  have  not  the  common  feelings  of  humanity  where  she  is 
concerned;  that  I  cannot  ask  her  a  civil  question.  How 
provoking  it  is — and  she  looked  so  handsome  too!  "  and 
by  dint  of  assiduous  thought  on  this  subject,  he  arrived 
too  late  to  hand  her  out,  and  saw  her  and  his  sister  run 
quickly  up-stairs  to  change  their  wet  clothes,  and  to  break 
their  disaster  to  Lady  Eskdale. 

As  no  real  harm  had  occurred,  their  adventures  served 
as  a  relief  to  the  gloomy  cogitations  of  the  evening  over 
the  state  of  the  poll.  Several  gentlemen  of  the  committee 
had  been  asked  to  dinner,  and  of  course  the  conversation 
turned  exclusively  on  the  events  of  the  morning;  and  at 
any  other  time  the  family  would  have  been  the  first  to 


222  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED    COUPLE 

laugh  at  their  own  volubility  and  prejudices.  When  the 
ladies  returned  to  the  drawing-room,  Lady  Eskdale  threw 
herself  on  the  sofa  with  a  deep  sigh,  which  was  echoed  by 
her  daughters  as  they  ranged  themselves  round  her. 

"  I  feel  quite  desponding  about  the  election  to-night," 
she  said,  "  and  it  is  so  mortifying  to  lose  it;  and  I  never 
heard  anything  so  atrocious  as  the  accounts  of  the  bribery 
and  intimidation  on  the  other  side.  Mr.  Mullins  has  been 
telling  me  all  about  it;   he  says  it  is  quite  unprecedented." 

"  So  Mr.  Winthrop  says,"  added  Lady  Sophia. 

"  And  Mr.  Dickson,"  said  Lady  Teviot. 

"  And  Mr.  Wyvill,"  said  Lady  Walden. 

*'  I  cannot  think  such  horrible  wickedness  can  succeed," 
continued  Lady  Eskdale;  "  there  will  be  a  judgment  upon 
it ;  and  I  really  believe  the  Duke  of  Broughton  is  capable 
of  anything  atrocious.  However,  there  is  still  a  chance 
left;  and  if  our  friends  are  to  be  believed — and  I  quite 
put  my  faith  in  that  nice  Mr.  Mullins — Beaufort  and  Ernest 
ought  to  succeed.  There  are  230  voters  still  unpolled, 
and  Mr.  Mullins  assures  me  that  of  those  we  are  sure  of 
120  or  130,  I  forget  which;  and  so  you  see,  my  loves,  we 
must  subtract  130  from  250,  and  287  from  130,  and  then 

add No,  that  is  not  right,  sums  are  so  difficult;    but 

that  the  result  would  give  us  a  majority  I  know,  because 
Mullins  says  so." 

"  Mr.  Winthrop  says  he  is  sure  of  it,"  added  Lady 
Sophia. 

"  Mr.  Dickson  says  we  stand  much  higher  than  he  had 
expected  the  first  day,"  said  Lady  Teviot. 

"  So  Mr.  Wyvill  says,"  added  Lady  Walden. 

"  I  think  I  feel  sure  we  shall  win  all  the  time,"  said 
Lady  Eskdale. 

"  And  so  do  I,"  said  Mary,  after  a  pause;  "  and  yet  I 
cannot  help  thinking,  though  of  course  these  gentlemen 
know  best,  that  we  should  feel  more  sure  if  we  were  at 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  223 

the  head  of  the  poll  instead  of  being  in  a  minority  of 
thirty." 

"Well,  I  think  so  too,  Mary,"  said  Lady  Teviot;  and 
then  they  were  all  silent  again. 

"  Mamma,"  said  Lady  Sophia,  "  did  it  not  strike  you 
to-day  that  Mr.  Douglas  has  a  remarkably  bad  counte- 
nance?    It  never  occurred  to  me  before." 

"Well,  I  thought  so  too,  Sophia,"  said  Lady  Teviot; 
"  he  used  to  have  such  an  open,  good-humoured  look,  but 
after  studying  his  face  to-day  when  he  was  speaking,  I 
thought  it  had  a  false,  forbidding  sort  of  expression." 

"  Perhaps  so,  my  dear,"  said  Lady  Eskdale,  resignedly; 
"  he  never  at  the  best  of  times  had  a  distinguished  look, 
and  I  dare  say,  poor  man,  he  must  have  moments  of 
painful  remorse  for  his  treachery  to  Beaufort,  and  that 
tells  on  his  countenance.  However,  if  we  have  lost  one 
friend,  we  have  gained  several  others.  I  never  saw  any- 
thing like  the  devotion  of  all  those  dear  good  creatures 
in  the  next  room.  Mr.  MuUins  tells  me  he  is  quite  as 
anxious  for  our  success  as  if  he  were  standing  himself;  he 
says  he  has  hardly  been  in  bed  more  than  five  hours  this 
week,  and  he  is  quite  hoarse  with  speaking.  I  like  Mr. 
Mullins." 

"  And  I  dote  upon  Mr.  Winthrop :  he  is  not  a  bit  less 
eager  than  your  Mullins,  mamma,"  said  Lady  Sophia. 

"  And  my  Mr.  Dickson  has  not  had  a  wink  more  sleep," 
said  Lady  Teviot. 

"  And  I  am  proud  to  say  Mr.  Wyvill  has  completely 
lost  his  voice,"  said  Lady  Walden. 

"  Well,  you  may  laugh,  my  dear  children,  but  they  are 
very  dehghtful  people,  and  I  mean  to  see  a  great  deal  of 
them  in  future,  and  to  ask  them  here  constantly.  And 
now  let  us  rest  till  the  gentlemen  come,  for  I  am  half  dead 
with  the  election,  and  that  horrid  accident  with  your 
phaeton,  dearest  Nell.     I  feel  quite  ill,  and  I   think  we 


QQ4  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

have  all  agreed  not  to  go  into  the  town  to-morrow;    so 
now  let  us  keep  quiet." 

To  this  they  all  consented  heartily,  and  then,  after  a 
silence  that  lasted  at  least  two  minutes,  they  all  recom- 
menced their  surmises  and  remarks.  The  gentlemen  joined 
them,  and  till  one  in  the  morning  they  continued  discussing 
the  chances  of  each  remaining  vote  without  ever  wearying 
of  the  subject.  They  parted  with  the  avowed  determina- 
tion to  get  up  very  late  the  next  day.  At  eight  the  following 
morning  every  bell  was  ringing,  and  each  lady  had  decided 
that  though  it  was  advisable  that  the  others  should  stay 
at  home,  she  herself  should  be  anxious  and  miserable  at  a 
distance  from  the  scene  of  action.  So  at  nine  they  were 
all  on  their  way  once  more  to  the  faithful  Mrs.  Harris, 
and  full  of  renovated  hopes. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 

The  town  was  more  crowded  and  more  disorderly  than 
ever;  the  mob  more  eager  and  considerably  more  drunk. 
The  horses  could  hardly  make  their  way  through  the  crowd, 
and  innumerable  were  the  hands  that  were  thrust  into  the 
carriage;  and  dirty  as  they  were,  Lady  Eskdale  shook 
them  all  heartily,  though  she  afterwards  assured  her  son 
that  it  was  the  greatest  stretch  of  maternal  affection  she 
had  ever  made  for  him.  Contrary  to  the  general  expecta- 
tion, the  Beauforts  gained  ground  from  the  first  hour,  and 
at  twelve  o'clock  Lord  Beaufort  was  within  one  of  Mr. 
Douglas,  and  Ernest  within  five.  The  agitation  that  had 
prevailed  in  Mrs.  Harris's  parlour  began  to  evince  itself 
at  the  Broughton  Arms;  and  Mrs.  Douglas  was  frantic 
with  anger  and  spite,  and  added  ten  years  at  once  to  the 
ages  of  all  the  opposite  party.  EHza,  who  had  all  along 
asserted  that  her  father  and  Colonel  Beaufort  would  and 
must  win,  adhered  to  that  opinion,  which  no  announcement 
of  numbers,  no  force  of  calculation  could  possibly  shake. 

Another  hour  passed  away.  Lord  Beaufort  was  at  the 
head  of  the  poll,  and  Colonel  Beaufort  within  four  of 
Captain  Luttridge.  Mullins  and  Co.  were  in  a  state  of 
unexampled  activity  and  triumph.  Lady  Eskdale  and  her 
daughters  were  speechless,  for  now  that  one  Beaufort 
seemed  secure  their  eagerness  for  Ernest's  success  was 
redoubled.  A  shout  was  heard,  and  a  chaise  whirled  up. 
"  Oh !  "  said  Lady  Walden,  "  there  is  my  dear  Wyvill 
waving  his  hat  to  us.  Such  a  treasure  of  a  man!  but 
why  has  he  powdered  his  face  like  a  clown  at  Astley's?  " 
p  225 


226  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

This  was  explained  by  his  handing  out  of  the  chaise  two 
very  white  millers,  whom  he  had  torn  from  their  innocent 
farinaceous  privacy  into  the  pink  and  blue  crowd.  They 
polled  for  the  Beauforts;  Wyvill  gave  his  own  vote  at  the 
same  time,  and  immediately  after,  Tom  Rogerson  was  seen 
hauling  along  a  very  small  pale-faced  cripple,  an  iron- 
monger by  trade,  whom  he  had  by  dint  of  threats  and 
brandy  forced  to  the  hustings;  and  who  with  faltering 
voice,  and  eyes  fixed  on  Tom,  voted  for  Colonel  Beaufort 
and  Mr.  Douglas.  "  I  allow  the  little  wretch  one  vote," 
said  Tom,  with  an  air  of  condescension,  "  because  he  is 
his  Grace's  private  tinker,  and  it  does  us  no  harm;  but 
in  a  general  way,  I  don't  like  to  see  such  little  hatomeys 
go  for  to  think  for  theirselves."  The  numbers  now  were 
for — 

Lord  Beaufort 360 

Colonel  Beaufort 351 

Captain  Luttridge 351 

Mr.  Douglas  330 

There  was  a  pause  for  ten  minutes,  not  another  vote 
apparently  to  be  had  for  love  or  money.  The  mayor  had 
wisely  abstained  from  giving  any  opinion,  and  neither 
party  dared  press  him  to  vote :  the  delay  became  more 
aggravating  every  moment ;  at  last  there  was  a  stir  amongst 
the  crowd  as  if  some  interesting  event  were  in  preparation 
at  the  end  of  the  street.  The  ladies  stretched  their  heads 
out  of  the  windows  quite  as  far  as  was  safe;  but  their 
hearts  misgave  them,  for  there  were  no  hurrahs  to  herald 
the  approach  of  another  Beaufortite.  But  yet  the  mob 
looked  joyful,  though  so  quiet;  and  at  last  there  appeared, 
in  grand  procession,  eight  men  bearing  a  bed,  on  which 
was  laid  an  unfortunate  master  chimney-sweeper,  who  had 
broken  his  leg  the  day  before,  and  who  now  was  borne 
along,  stretched  at  full  length,  with  his  wife's  red  cloak 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  227 

over  his  shoulders,  and  her  flannel  petticoat  turbaned 
round  his  head,  his  face  partially  streaked  with  white, 
thanks  to  his  forced  seclusion  from  soot,  and  a  blue  flag 
thrown  over  his  bed  to  conceal  the  patchwork  quilt.  Tom 
Rogerson  was  walking  beside  him,  with  a  bottle  of  spirits 
(to  be  used  in  case  of  faintness)  in  one  hand,  and  with  the 
other  making  most  imperative  signs  to  the  people  not  to 
agitate  the  sick  man  with  their  applause.  It  was  a  most 
impressive  scene,  particularly  when  the  black  lips  opened 
in  answer  to  the  interrogation  of  the  polling-clerk,  and 
announced  a  plumper  for  Colonel  Beaufort.  There  was  a 
low  murmur  of  delight,  followed  by  a  stern  "  Hush  "  from 
Tom  Rogerson,  who  was  so  much  affected  that  he  was 
obUged  to  have  recourse  to  the  spirits  which  he  had  brought 
for  the  sick  man.  The  procession  moved  on,  and  no 
sooner  was  the  gallant  chimney-sweeper  out  of  hearing, 
than  the  numbers  were  again  announced;  and  the  shouts 
of  the  crowd  burst  forth.  The  election  was  decided ;  the 
five  or  six  voters  who  had  hung  back  all  came  in  to  the 
winning  side ;  and  in  half  an  hour  Lord  Beaufort  and  his 
cousin  were  declared  duly  elected.  Mrs.  Douglas  was  in 
hysterics,  and  Lady  Sophia,  Lady  Walden,  and  Lady 
Teviot  were  dancing  a  reel  at  the  back  of  Mrs.  Harris's 
parlour,  out  of  sight  of  the  street,  and  merely  as  a  necessary 
relief  to  their  over-excited  spirits.  Mrs.  Harris  was  urging 
Lady  Eskdale  to  drink  the  health  of  the  new  members  in 
her  gooseberry  wine,  to  which  request  Lady  Eskdale 
acceded,  thought  it  tasted  to-day  much  better  than  cham- 
pagne, and  begged  for  the  receipt.  Altogether  it  was  a 
glorious  day  for  Eskdale  Castle.  Every  being  in  the  house, 
from  its  owner  down  to  steward's-room  boy,  was  in  a  state 
of  triumph,  and  the  evening  was  passed  in  such  hilarity 
that  it  was  much  to  the  credit  of  the  establishment  that 
there  were  enough  sober  servants  to  carry  to  bed  those 
who  were  drunk. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 

Poor  Eliza,  she  was  the  chief  victim  to  the  great  Borough- 
ford  contest.  Mrs.  Douglas  said  "  Not  at  home,"  when 
Lady  Eskdale,  who  could  not  keep  up  a  quarrel  for  a 
week,  called  on  her;  and  professed  her  intention  of  not 
returning  such  a  hypocritical  visit.  The  Castle  was  filled 
with  company,  but  Mrs.  Douglas  sternly  refused  an  invita- 
tion to  dine  there.  Worse  than  all.  Colonel  Beaufort  did 
not  call  at  Thornbank.  He  thought  of  it,  but  one  day 
the  sun  was  out,  and  he  should  have  a  glaring  dusty  ride. 
The  next  day  the  sun  went  in,  but  he  had  no  idea  of 
catching  cold  for  a  mere  morning  visit,  and  he  really  had 
not  courage  "  to  face  the  irate  Douglas  pere  et  mere^^'' 
though  he  should  rather  have  liked  to  see  his  little  friend. 
He  could  not  recollect  her  Christian  name,  but  the  little 
fair  girl  who  had  such  a  righteous  horror  of  Lady  Port- 
more.  And  for  this  man  Eliza  was  undergoing  all  the 
pains  and  processes  of  a  disappointment.  She  ate  no 
breakfast  and  very  little  dinner,  alternated  from  fits  of 
absence  in  solitude  to  fits  of  impatience  in  society.  She 
thought  all  the  neighbours  tiresome,  and  Thornbank  dull; 
and  finally  set  up  an  Extract  Book,  that  last  infirmity  of 
blighted  hopes.  It  opened,  of  course,  with  "  She  never 
told  her  love,"  though  there  was  not  an  action  in  Eliza's 
life  that  did  not  tell  it  plainly  if  anybody  had  thought  it 
worth  while  to  interpret  them.  "  The  worm  in  the  bud  " 
was  making  a  nice  little  feast  in  a  quiet  way.  This  quota- 
tion was  followed  by  harrowing  lines  to  the  Bleeding  heart 
and  the  False  heart,  and  the  Breaking  heart  and  the  Cold 

228 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  229 

heart,  and  hearts  in  every  variety  of  distress  and  wrong ; 
and  by  short  pithy  scraps  conveying  the  most  cutting 
censures  on  man's  inconstancy,  or  describing  the  withering 
Hves  and  touching  deaths  of  "  The  Lone  One,"  or  "  The 
Early  Lost,"  or  words  to  that  effect.  And  there  was 
Colonel  Beaufort,  "  cold,  perjured,  but  adored  "  (p.  49, 
Extract  Book),  actually  oblivious  of  her  Christian  name, 
and  thinking  of  Parliament  and  Newmarket  and  pheasant 
shooting,  and  of  anything  but  falling  in  love  and  marrying. 

"  I  say,  Helen,"  he  muttered  one  morning  after  Lord 
Eskdale  had  mentioned  that  there  would  be  no  battue 
that  week,  "  is  there  any  chance  of  Teviot  coming  home 
soon?  It  will  be  monstrous  if  we  are  cut  out  of  the 
pheasants  he  promised  us  by  some  trivial  question  of  peace 
or  war  between  two  Great  Powers,  as  they  are  pleased  to 
call  themselves.     Do  you  know  when  he  is  coming  back?  " 

"  He  seemed,"  said  Helen,  "  in  his  last  letter  to  think 
that  his  business  at  Lisbon  might  now  easily  be  finished  by 
others  on  the  spot,  and  that  he  should  come  back  to  take 
possession  of  his  new  office." 

"  This  is  pleasing  news  for  all  of  us,"  said  Colonel 
Stuart,  who  was  staying  at  the  Castle,  "  and  especially  for 
you.  Lady  Teviot.  Lady  Portmore  seemed  sure  of  his 
return,  for  she  asked  me  to  meet  him  at  Portsdown  on  the 
loth,  but,  with  every  respect  for  our  dear  busy  friend,  I 
found  '  metal  more  attractive  '  here  than  in  one  of  her 
fussy  crowds." 

"  Lady  Portmore  must  be  in  ecstasies,"  said  Lady 
Walden,  "  at  the  triumph  of  what  she  calls  her  party." 

"  Well,  I  am  not  so  sure,"  said  Colonel  Stuart.  "  Mr.  G. 
has  failed  to  find  out  Portmore's  merits,  and  my  lady  is 
rather  wrathful  at  not  having  the  offer  of  even  a  household 
place;  and  I  hear  she  is  beginning  to  make  out  that  Mr. 
Sheffield  is  a  distant  cousin  of  hers,  and  that  he  leads  the 
Opposition  with  great  talent." 


230  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

"  So  like  her,"  said  Lady  Walden.  "  I  wish  she  would 
take  up  the  Sheffield  side,  and  give  up  appropriating  Mr.  G. 
and  his  friends  to  herself." 

"  I  am  sure,  so  do  I,"  said  Helen,  in  an  absent  tone. 

"  And  yet,"  pursued  Colonel  Stuart,  "  she  is  of  use  too. 
She  has  great  power  over  her  friends;  how  or  why  it  is 
difficult  to  say;  but  in  some  instances,"  he  added  in  a 
hesitating  voice,  "  it  is  marvellous." 

Helen  was  silent,  she  hardly  seemed  to  hear  what  was 
passing.  Amelia  took  up  the  argument  against  Lady 
Portmore — her  charms  and  her  agreeableness ;  and  Colonel 
Stuart,  with  a  manifest  affectation  of  keeping  back  the  facts 
that  would  tell  best  for  him,  ended  by  saying  that  some- 
how or  other  her  influence  over  some  people  had  been 
exerted  with  great  success.  Amelia  left  the  room,  and 
Helen,  rousing  herself  from  her  fit  of  abstraction,  asked 
Colonel  Stuart  "  whether  there  was  to  be  a  large  party 
at  Portsdown." 

"  Lady  Portmore  did  not  name  her  guests,  but  said,  as 
you  probably  know,  that  Lord  Teviot  would  land  at 
Southampton  on  the  gth,  and  that  she  expected  him  on 
the  loth."  He  put  on  a  look  of  distress,  and  added,  "  I 
own  this  surprises  me;  and  what  is  more,  it  provokes  me. 
I  cannot  endure  for  your  sake,"  he  added  in  a  low  earnest 
tone,  "  the  infatuation  which  can  keep  Teviot  for  an  hour 
from  such  a  home  as  his." 

Helen  looked  surprised,  but  said  coldly,  "  We  have  only 
Lady  Portmore's  word  for  the  invitation  that  has  been 
given;  I  very  much  doubt  whether  it  will  be  accepted.  I 
am  thinking  of  meeting  Lord  Teviot  at  Southampton." 

"  Are  you,  indeed?  "  and  then  he  paused,  and  drawing 
his  chair  nearer  to  her,  and  looking  at  her  with  an  air  of 
deep  compassion,  said,  "  Perhaps  you  are  right.  If  any- 
thing should  occur  to  distress  Teviot,  I  mean  to  annoy 
him,  he  must  feel  the  comfort  of  having  you  near  him.     I 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  231 

cannot  imagine  he  should  not,  and  yet But  I  cannot 

speak  on  this  subject.  Whatsoever  befalls  him,  Teviot 
will  always  be  to  me  an  object  of  envy." 

"What  do  you  mean?"  said  Helen,  quietly;  "there 
can  have  been  no  letters  later  than  mine  from  him.  He 
said  he  should  be  glad  to  get  away  from  Lisbon,  that  it 
did  not  agree  with  him;  he  did  not  feel  well.  Colonel 
Stuart,  you  have  not  heard  that  he  is  really  ill?  " 

"  No,  nothing  of  the  sort;  it  was  not  to  himself  I  was 
alluding.  I  was  thinking  of  you.  I  cannot  be  calm  and 
prudent  where  your  happiness  is  concerned;  and  yet  it 
was  only  a  vague  report." 

"  Oh !  then  do  not  tell  it  to  me,"  she  said,  relapsing 
into  her  previous  coldness.  "  If  you  had  known  anything 
connected  with  his  health,  you  would  have  done  well  to 
tell  me — any  other  reports  I  would  rather  hear  from  him- 
self" She  rose  as  she  spoke,  and  without  even  a  look  at 
him  left  the  room. 

She  went  straight  to  Lady  Walden,  who  was,  for  a 
wonder,  not  in  the  nursery.  "  Amelia,"  she  said,  "  I 
cannot  bear  that  Colonel  Stuart.  I  do  not  know  what  he 
means.  I  cannot  understand  his  looks  and  his  manner. 
He  has  been  trying  to  frighten  me  with  some  report  which 
he  says  concerns  my  happiness.  What  business  is  it  of  his 
whether  I  am  happy  or  not  ?    Amelia,  what  does  he  mean  ?  " 

Lady  Walden  had  seen  looks  of  Colonel  Stuart's  that 
had  aroused  her  suspicions,  and  she  was  sufficiently  aware 
of  his  character  and  habits  to  have  a  distinct  perception 
of  his  meaning ;  but  she  had  no  intention  of  enhghtening 
Helen's  innocent  mind,  and  said,  with  an  air  of  indiffer- 
ence, "  Oh,  nothing  at  all  probably.  He  delights  in  petty 
mysteries,  and  in  interference  in  the  affairs  of  other  people ; 
and  he  fancies  himself  a  good  adviser,  though  it  generally 
appears  to  me  that  his  advice  is  wrong." 

"  Wrong  or  right,"  said  Helen,  "  I  do  not  wish  for  it, 


232  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

and  I  am  very  glad  Mary  did  not  marry  him.  But  I  wish, 
dearest,  you  would  ascertain,  without  seeming  to  care 
about  it,  whether  he  does  know  anything  about  Teviot. 
I  dare  say  it  is  only  some  nonsense  about  that  silly  Lady 
Portmore;   but  still  he  has  made  me  feel  uncomfortable." 

"And  that  is  just  vv^hat  he  intended,"  said  Amelia; 
"  but  I  will  have  a  talk  with  him  this  evening.  Till  then 
do  not  let  us  think  of  him,  and  in  the  meanwhile  may  I 
ask,  Nelly,  if  you  ever  in  your  life  saw  anything  half  so 
pretty  as  baby's  hand?  " 

She  put  aside  the  curtain  of  the  little  white  cradle  that 
was  on  her  sofa,  and  the  sisters  solaced  themselves  for  the 
disturbance  occasioned  by  Colonel  Stuart's  dark  hints  by  a 
regular  course  of  baby  twaddle,  kissing  its  waxy  little 
hands,  trying  to  roll  the  short  down  on  its  head  into  curls — 
an  attempt  in  which  they  signally  failed ;  and  poking  little 
holes  in  the  corners  of  its  mouth  and  the  dimple  on  its 
chin,  fancying  they  made  it  laugh.  To  impartial  observers, 
the  face  made  by  baby  under  this  manipulation  was  one 
of  unutterable  disgust  and  annoyance. 

In  the  course  of  the  evening  Amelia  fulfilled  her  promise 
to  Helen,  by  engaging  Colonel  Stuart  in  conversation,  and 
his  vanity  was  gratified  by  her  alluding  to  the  hints  he  had 
given  to  her  sister,  and  the  impression  they  had  made  on  her. 

"  You  may  imagine,  Lady  Walden,"  he  said,  rather 
solemnly,  "  that  the  last  thing  I  should  wish  would  be  to 
give  your  sister  a  moment  of  uneasiness.  I  could  not  do  it, 
such  a  bright,  buoyant  being  as  she  is.  How  she  can  be 
undervalued  or  misunderstood  !  But  this  is  not  what  I  have 
to  say.  It  had  better  be  said  to  you  than  to  her;  and  you 
can  then  impart  the  tidings  to  her  or  not,  as  you  think  best." 

"  But  what  tidings?  "  said  Amelia,  impatiently.  "  What 
is  it  that  requires  all  this  preparation?  " 

"  Merely  a  report.  I  trust  it  is  nothing  more;  but  a 
report  that  materially  affects  Lord  Teviot's  position,  should 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  233 

it  prove  true.  Have  you  ever  seen  or  heard  of  a  certain 
Henry  Lorimer,  who  lives  not  in  the  best  society,  but 
occasionally  hangs  about  it?  " 

"  You  mean  a  tall,  dark  Mr.  Lorimer,  who  is  a  con- 
nection of  Lord  Teviot's  after  a  fashion,  a  natural  son  of 
Lord  Robert's,  Teviot's  great-uncle.  I  believe  that  old 
Lord  Robert  was  a  shocking  old  man.  Luckily  for  Teviot, 
he  was  never  married." 

"Ah!"  said  Colonel  Stuart;  "but  this  leads,  un- 
fortunately, to  my  mysterious  report."  And  then  he  went 
on  to  explain  to  Lady  Walden  that  this  Henry  Lorimer, 
after  having  consented  to  pass  for  some  years  as  an 
illegitimate  scion  of  the  Teviot  house,  had  suddenly 
asserted  a  private  marriage  of  his  father's,  which  he  was 
prepared  to  prove,  and  consequently  to  lay  claim  to  the 
Teviot  title  and  estates.  "  This  intelligence  came  to  me 
through  an  odd,  inexplicable  channel;  it  is  not  yet  gener- 
ally known,  but  it  soon  must  be,  and  I  leave  it  to  you  to 
judge  whether  your  sister  had  better  hear  it  now,  or  on 
Teviot's  return.     It  may  be  kept  a  secret  a  few  days  longer." 

Colonel  Stuart's  intelligence  always  did  come  to  him  in 
strange,  mysterious  ways :  but  yet  it  generally  proved  to 
be  correct,  and  Amelia  felt  that  he  was  only  asserting  what 
he  actually  knev/.  She  questioned  him  as  to  the  grounds 
on  which  Mr.  Lorimer  had  raised  his  claim;  but  on  that 
point  Colonel  Stuart  could  or  would  say  nothing.  He 
confined  himself  to  sighs  and  shakings  of  the  head,  after 
the  fashion  of  Lord  Burleigh,  and  an  occasional  word  of 
pity  for  Lady  Teviot. 

She  had  watched  this  colloquy  with  great  interest,  and 
eagerly  followed  her  sister  out  of  the  room  when  Amelia 
professed  fatigue  as  an  excuse  for  retiring  early. 

"Well,  Amelia,  what  is  it?  Tell  me  at  once.  Is  it 
anything  about  Lady  Portmore  ?  or  about  Teviot's  health  ?  " 

"  Neither  the  one  nor  the  other,  darling,  and  the  story 


234  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

may  turn  out  false;  but  it  is  certainly  very  annoying"; 
and  then  she  repeated  to  her  sister  the  facts  stated  to  her 
by  Colonel  Stuart. 

"  Oh!  is  that  all?  "  said  Helen,  with  a  sigh  of  relief. 
"  In  the  first  place,  I  do  not  believe  it.  I  do  not  know 
why  it  is,  but  I  feel  as  if  I  should  distrust  anything  and 
everything  asserted  by  Colonel  Stuart ;  and  then,  supposing 
it  to  be  true,  worse  misfortunes  might  have  happened.  I 
doubt  whether  very  great  riches  and  grandeur  really  do  give 
all  the  happiness  we  suppose.  But  Teviot,  poor  Teviot !  " 
she  added,  in  an  unusual  tone  of  tenderness,  "  I  am  afraid  he 
will  feel  all  this  deeply,  even  if  it  ends  well.  He  will  hate  the 
discussions  and  all  the  publicity  given  to  his  family  history ; 
and  if  it  ends  ill !     Oh,  Amelia,  does  he  know  it  yet?  " 

"  No,  Colonel  Stuart  says  that  except  '  the  scamp,'  as 
he  calls  Mr.  Lorimer,  and  his  advisers,  it  is  known  to  no 
one  but  himself" 

"  I  am  glad,"  said  Helen  in  a  tone  of  deep  feeling; 
"  for  then  I  shall  be  with  Teviot  when  he  hears  it,  and  I 
think  I  shall  be  a  comfort  to  him."  There  was  silence 
between  the  sisters  for  a  few  minutes,  and  then  Helen, 
throwing  her  arms  round  Amelia's  neck,  said  in  a  faltering 
voice,  "  Dearest,  I  have  been  wrong,  very  wrong,  in  the 
whole  course  of  my  married  life ;  so  unlike  what  you  would 
have  been.  I  cannot  talk  even  to  you  about  it;  but  the 
worst  of  all  is  that  I  did  not  go  with  my  husband  to 
Lisbon.  Amelia,  I  am  very  unhappy,  but  to-morrow  I 
shall  hear  from  him,  and  I  mean  to  be  at  Southampton 
before  he  lands.  So  whatever  bad  news  may  come,  we 
may  hear  it  together." 

"  You  are  right,  darling,"  said  Amelia,  who  was  too 
honest  and  true-hearted  to  say  that  Helen  condemned 
herself  unjustly.  "It  is  better  not  to  discuss  the  past  if 
it  fret  my  Helen,  but  she  will  be  a  happy  good  Uttle  wife 
for  the  future,  and  so  good-night." 


CHAPTER   XL 

The  next  morning  at  an  early  hour  Lady  Eskdale  was 
roused  from  that  most  pleasing  of  all  the  phases  of  sleep — 
the  slight  extra  doze  that  follows  the  opening  of  the 
shutters — by  Helen,  who  was  looking  pale  and  agitated, 
and  had  a  letter  in  her  hand. 

"  Mamma  dear,  I  am  so  vexed  to  disturb  you,  but  I 
am  going  to  set  off  for  Southampton  directly.  Poor 
Teviot  has  been  ill;  he  has  had  a  bad  fever;  he  cannot 
write  himself,  but  I  have  heard  from  his  secretary,  who 
says  they  were  going  to  move  him  from  that  dreadful 
Lisbon  directly;  and  that  the  doctors  hoped  that  the 
voyage  would  be  of  use.  He  is  at  sea  now.  I  shall  hardly 
arrive  at  Southampton  before  him.  Oh,  dearest  mamma, 
is  it  not  sad?  "  and  Helen  burst  into  tears, 

"  My  darling  child,"  said  Lady  Eskdale,  who  was  so 
little  accustomed  to  be  awakened  by  any  misfortune  that 
she  could  not  collect  her  scattered  senses  nor  untie  her 
nightcap,  "  you  must  not  cry;  of  course  you  must  go  to 
dear  Teviot  directly,  but  you  must  have  some  breakfast 
first,  Helen;  a  fever  did  you  say,  dear?  Do  untie  this 
knot  for  me.  I  am  quite  awake  now,  so  let  me  see  the 
letter;  you  have  got  frightened,  my  pet;  I  dare  say  it  is 
only  a  slight  attack." 

But  when  she  had  read  the  letter  she  saw  that  Helen's 
alarm  was  well-founded,  and  her  tears  fell  on  her  child's 
head,  which  had  sunk  on  her  pillow.  Lord  Teviot  had 
been  suddenly  seized  with  a  bad  fever  which  was  then 
raging  at  Lisbon;    and  guarded  as  was  the  account  sent 

235 


236  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

by  his  secretary,  it  was  evidently  written  under  great 
alarm  and  anxiety.  Eight  days  of  illness  had  been  sufficient 
to  prostrate  mind  and  body.  Friends  were  judging  and 
acting  for  him  whose  will  had  been  so  absolute  and  actions 
so  decided;  and  the  strong  man  whom  no  fatigue  had 
seemed  to  weary  was  to  be  borne  in  a  litter,  unconscious 
and  helpless,  to  the  ship  which  was  to  bring  him  home, 
or  to  be  his  grave. 

Lady  Eskdale  was  completely  overcome.  Her  first 
thought  was  to  accompany  her  daughter,  but  that  Helen 
declined  with  a  peremptoriness  that  admitted  of  no  resist- 
ance. She  said  that  it  would  be  great  fatigue  for  her 
mother,  that  her  own  preparations  were  made,  and  that 
she  should  be  off  in  half  an  hour ;  that  Amelia  had  offered 
to  go  with  her,  but  that  she  had  rather  go  alone,  and  would 
write  from  Southampton  the  moment  she  arrived  there. 

"  But  my  dear  child,"  said  poor  Lady  Eskdale,  who 
was  gradually  relapsing  into  bewilderment  under  the 
suddenness  of  this  trouble,  "  you  cannot  possibly  go  alone 
to  a  great  noisy  hotel  at  a  seaport  town;  it  is  not  proper, 
though  to  be  sure  you  are  married,  I  forgot  that;  but 
still  you  are  so  young;  and  then  all  that  anxiety  about 
your  dear  husband;  and  how  are  you  to  get  on  board 
the  packet?  and  the  beds  won't  be  aired.  I  must  get  up 
directly  and  ask  Lord  Eskdale  about  it.  How  tiresome  it 
is  that  Nelson  never  will  put  my  dressing-slippers  ready! 
Oh  dear,  how  little  we  know  what  the  day  may  bring 
forth  !  I  wish  now  you  had  gone  with  dear  Teviot,  though 
perhaps  you  might  have  caught  this  dreadful  fever  yourself" 

"  You  cannot  wish  it  more  than  I  do,"  said  Helen, 
fervently.  "  I  ought  to  have  been  with  him;  but  I  shall 
not  be  alone  at  the  hotel,  mamma.  Mary  Forrester  was, 
you  know,  going  back  this  week  to  her  aunt,  who  lives  in 
that  neighbourhood,  and  she  will  stay  with  me  till  Teviot 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  237 

"  But  you  two  will  be  very  helpless  in  that  sort  of  place ; 
Beaufort  must  go  with  you  if  you  will  not  let  papa  and 
me  go." 

"  No,"  said  Helen,  "  no,  I  had  rather  go  alone." 

"  Dear  Nelly,"  said  Lady  Eskdale,  looking  with  fond 
pity  at  the  young  fragile  creature  who  was  resting  on  the 
bed  by  her,  looking  miserable  and  pale,  "  you  are  not 
able  to  get  through  all  this  alone.  Why  should  not  Beau- 
fort go  with  you?  " 

"  Because,  mamma,"  she  said,  throwing  her  arms  round 
her  mother's  neck,  "  I  do  not  think  Teviot  would  like  it. 
I  did  not  like  to  tell  you  when  first  I  came  here,  but  at 
St.  Mary's  I  was  not  quite  happy.  It  was  all  my  fault, 
but  somehow  poor  Teviot  was  convinced  that  I  thought 
too  much  of  my  own  family ;  that  I  cared  more  for  them 
than  I  did  for  him;  and  so — I  cannot  explain  it,  but  I 
think  he  would  be  better  pleased  if  I  came  by  myself  to 
meet  him ;  and  oh !  if  he  is  still  very  ill,  I  should  like  to 
nurse  him  and  to  wait  upon  him,  and  to  make  him  happier 
than  I  did  before.  It  would  please  him  to  have  all  my 
care  to  himself." 

"You  are  right,  darling;  whatever  will  please  your 
husband  best  it  is  your  duty  to  do;  so  go,  my  child.  I 
trust  you  will  not  want  us,  but  if  you  do,  we  can  come  at 
any  moment.  God  bless  you,  my  dearest,  and  may  all 
this  trial  end  happily !  " 

"  Yes,  yes,"  said  Helen,  "  it  must,  it  will.  Amelia  has 
another  grievance  to  tell  you  that  will  vex  poor  Teviot; 
but  that  does  not  signify  if  he  gets  well ;  and  now  I  must 
go.  Everything  is  ready ;  good-bye,  my  own  dear  mother." 
And  before  the  company  at  the  Castle  met  at  breakfast, 
Helen  and  Mary  were  gone.  Lord  and  Lady  Eskdale  had 
heard  from  Amelia  the  intelligence  she  had  gathered  from 
Colonel  Stuart,  and  he,  with  all  the  guests,  were  preparing 
for  their  departure,  feeling  that  the  family,  under  their 


238  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

present  circumstances,  would  be  glad  to  be  left  to  them- 
selves. Colonel  Stuart  was  in  a  high  state  of  annoyance 
at  Lady  Teviot's  sudden  disappearance,  and  his  own 
ignorance  of  the  impression  which  his  news  had  made  on 
her;  and  suddenly  determined  to  go  to  Portsdown,  and 
hear  Lady  Portmore's  views  on  the  subject. 


CHAPTER   XLI 

Lord  Eskdale  thought  perhaps  less  of  Lord  Teviot's 
illness,  and  more  of  the  threatened  attack  on  his  name  and 
property,  than  Lady  Eskdale  did.  He  settled,  as  most 
men  do,  that  a  bad  illness  is  only  a  decided  step  to  a  speedy 
recovery;  and  that  whoever  is  very  ill  one  day  is  sure  to 
be  much  better  the  next.  But  a  lawsuit  he  viewed  in  its 
truest  and  blackest  colours;  and  where  so  much  was  at 
stake,  he  was  eager  to  take  some  measures  of  defence,  even 
before  Lord  Teviot's  return.  But  the  affair  was  still  a 
mystery:  and  he  could  do  nothing  but  wish  and  wonder. 
One  measure  for  Helen's  comfort  he  insisted  upon,  not- 
withstanding Lady  Eskdale's  assurances  that  Helen  did  not 
wish  for  it.  He  sent  Lord  Beaufort  to  join  his  sister  a  few 
hours  after  her  departure;  and  even  Helen  felt  it  to  be  a 
relief  when  she  saw  her  brother's  carriage  dash  up  to  the 
door  of  the  noisy,  crowded  hotel,  where  she  and  Mary 
had,  after  much  difficulty,  found  rooms.  There  is  some- 
thing pleasant  and  cheerful  in  a  large  country  inn,  with  a 
choice  of  clean,  airy  rooms,  a  warm  welcome  from  a  fat 
landlady,  and  the  undivided  attentions  of  the  waiter.  But 
at  an  hotel  at  a  busy  seaport  town,  where  large  parties 
land,  eager  to  make  a  quick  transit  to  London,  where 
whole  families  arrive,  equally  eager  to  obtain  accommoda- 
tion till  they  enter  the  floating  prisons  which  are  already 
producing  nausea  by  the  view,  from  the  windows,  of 
their  constant  undulations;  where  the  hall  and  landing- 
places  are  filled  with  packing-cases,  and  the  entrance  is 
blocked  up  by  trucks;    where  all  the  bells  are  constantly 

239 


240  THE  SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

ringing,  and  it  seems  to  be  nobody's  business  to  answer 
them:  all  this  is  very  dispiriting.  Helen  sank  down  in 
despair  on  the  horse-hair  sofa,  which  seemed  to  be  con- 
stantly slipping  from  under  her,  while  Mary  attempted 
short  voyages  of  discovery  on  the  stairs,  which  were  cut 
short  by  fresh  shoals  of  arrivals  and  departures ;  the  foot- 
man made  a  failure  of  his  inquiries  about  packets ;  and 
Tomkinson  utterly  repudiated  the  bedrooms  which  were 
vouchsafed  to  her  as  a  favour,  and  declined  as  an  insult. 
This  is  one  of  the  situations  in  which  women  acquire  a 
wholesome  sense  of  their  helplessness,  and  a  conviction 
that  dependence  on  firmer  minds  and  stronger  frames  than 
their  own  is  their  natural  position  in  a  world  of  petty 
difficulties,  and  Helen  hailed  her  brother's  arrival  with 
pleasure. 

Lord  Beaufort  set  to  work  with  authority,  awed  a  dingy- 
looking  waiter  into  attention;  majestically  intimated  that 
Lady  Teviot's  room  was  not  fitted  for  her,  and  obtained 
one  less  noisy  and  better  furnished;  and  finally  went 
himself  to  the  packet-office,  sent  in  his  card,  and  obtained 
without  difficulty  the  information  he  wanted. 

"  Helen,  dearest !  "  he  said  on  his  return,  "  there  is  a 
steamer  to  start  from  hence  to-morrow;  but  it  seemed  so 
certain  by  Le  Geyt's  letter  that  Teviot  would  leave  Lisbon 
by  the  first  conveyance,  that  in  my  opinion  you  had  better 
stay  here  another  day  or  two.  Indeed,  I  am  sure  of  it. 
You  must  be  tired,  and  so  must  Miss  Forrester.  I  advise 
you  to  follow  her  example,  and  go  to  bed." 

"  I  flm  tired;  but  Mary  is  not  gone  to  bed;  you  know 
her  aunt  lives  about  two  miles  off:  and  finding  you  were 
here  to  take  care  of  me,  she  sent  for  a  fly,  and  went  to 
Mrs.  Forrester's.  She  will  come  back  early  to-morrow," 
she  added,  seeing  a  look  of  surprise  and  disappointment 
on  her  brother's  face. 

"  Yes,  she  must  come  back,"  he  said  moodily;    and  he 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  241 

rose  and  leant  against  the  chimney-piece  with  an  air  of 
painful  abstraction. 

"  Dear  Beaufort,"  said  Helen,  half  smiling,  "  you  do  not 
imagine  that  Mary  is  thinking  of  your  old  quarrels,  and 
has  gone  home  to  avoid  you  ?  I  assure  you  that  is  not  the 
case." 

"  Is  not  it?  "  he  said,  trying  to  return  her  smile;  but  he 
relapsed  into  his  absent  fit,  and  then,  suddenly  kissing  his 
sister,  said,  "  Good-night;  you  look  very  tired,  and  so 
am  I.     I  hope  Miss  Forrester  will  come  to  breakfast." 

"  I  suppose  so,"  said  Helen  sleepily.  "  Good-night, 
dear.     You  are  going  to  bed  too?  " 

"  Of  course  ";  but  when  she  had  left  the  room,  he  drew 
the  arm-chair  to  the  fire,  and,  resting  his  feet  on  the 
fender,  sank  into  deep  and  melancholy  thought.  He  had 
met  one  or  two  people  whom  he  knew  sHghtly,  who  had 
either  arrived  by  the  last  steamer  themselves,  or  had  seen 
friends  who  had.  They  all  spoke  of  Lord  Teviot's  as  a 
hopeless  case.  The  agent  at  the  office  had  mentioned 
that  a  packet  might  come  in  on  the  following  day;  it  was 
waiting  at  Lisbon  for  a  young  lord  who  was  very  ill;  but 
it  was  generally  understood  that  he  would  not  five  to  go 
on  board.  Lord  Beaufort  shuddered  as  he  thought  what 
the  next  morning  might  bring  to  Helen;  he  felt  unequal 
to  cope  with  her  probable  grief  by  himself;  and  ended  by 
writing  a  note  to  Miss  Forrester,  telling  her  what  he  had 
heard,  and  imploring  her  to  return  as  early  as  possible. 
He  left  this  note  with  his  servant,  to  be  sent  the  first  thing 
in  the  morning,  and  went  to  bed  anxious,  unhappy,  and 
almost  desponding. 

The  next  morning  Helen  came  down,  looking  more 
cheerful,  though  she  suggested  to  her  brother  that  she  did 
not  think  the  hotel  would  do  for  an  invalid;  that  she  had 
had  a  very  noisy  family  lodged  in  the  next  room  to  hers; 
*'  and  Teviot  will  perhaps  be  so  weak  that  we  may  have 


242  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

to  stay  at  Southampton  for  two  or  three  days."  She 
looked  anxiously  at  her  brother,  who  had  hardly  spoken 
all  the  time  breakfast  lasted,  and  intercepted  a  look  of 
his  at  Mary  that  made  her  heart  beat.  She  dared  not  ask 
the  question  that  was  on  her  lips. 

"  Very  true,"  said  Mary,  seeing  that  Lord  Beaufort  was 
unable  to  answer  his  sister's  mute  appeal.  "  You  must 
expect,  dearest,  that  Lord  Teviot  will  indeed  be  weak  and 
want  quiet.  I  think  we  might  find  some  lodging  just  as 
near  as  this  is  to  the  pier.  Indeed,  I  saw  a  house  to  be 
let  some  way  back  from  the  street,  and  standing  by  itself. 
It  was,  to  be  sure,  very  small." 

"  Oh,  that  would  not  signify  if  it  is  quiet.  What  do 
you  think,  Beaufort?  " 

"  That  it  would  be  very  desirable  to  get  you  out  of  this 
horrid  hole,"  he  said,  starting  up.  "  Miss  Forrester,  per- 
haps you  will  show  me  where  this  house  is,  and  I  will  go 
and  see  if  we  can  have  it.  Make  some  excuse  to  come 
with  me,"  he  whispered  as  she  leant  out  of  the  window  to 
point  out  the  direction  she  was  to  take.  "  I  must  see  you 
alone." 

"  Helen,"  said  Mary,  "  as  I  have  got  my  bonnet  on, 
perhaps  I  had  better  go  with  Lord  Beaufort  and  see  the 
house.  I  shall  know  directly  if  it  will  suit  you ;  and  in 
the  meanwhile  you  might  be  preparing  for  our  moving." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Helen,  listlessly.  "  I  will  speak  to 
Tomkinson;  any  house  will  do,  so  that  there  is  not  this 
constant  racket." 

She  saw  them  leave  the  room  with  a  dreamy  feeling  of 
wonder  that  they  should  go  together,  and  tried  to  smile 
as  they  went  out;  but  when  the  door  was  closed  she  hid 
her  face  in  her  hands  in  a  state  of  utter  depression.  She 
felt,  without  owning  it  to  herself,  that  they  knew  more  of 
her  husband  than  they  had  told  her;  there  was  almost  an 
angry  feeling  in  her  heart  against  the  secrecy  which  she 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  243 

fancied  they  observed,  and  yet  a  shrinking  dread  of  its 
being  broken.  Above  all,  there  was  a  miserable  pre- 
sentiment of  coming  evil — that  expectation  of  ill  which 
quickens  the  hearing,  blinds  the  sight,  and  seems  to  clench 
the  heart  with  a  grasp  that  tightens  at  every  strange 
sound,  at  every  sudden  silence.  She  was  still  seated  in  the 
same  place  and  position  when  Mary  returned  to  say  that 
the  house  was  quiet  and  clean;  that  Lord  Beaufort  had 
hired  it,  and  thought  his  sister  had  better  go  into  it  without 
delay.  He  was  gone  to  make  other  arrangements  for  her 
comfort  in  the  way  of  servants,  provisions,  etc.,  and  would 
not  return  for  another  hour. 

"  He  is  gone  to  the  pier,  Mary?  " 

"Very  likely,"  she  said;  "you  know  the  packet  may 
be  in  to-day." 

"  Yes,  and  you  and  Beaufort  know  more  than  that," 
said  Helen,  raising  her  heavy  eyes,  and  fixing  them  on 
Mary;  "you  have  heard  something  you  do  not  choose 
to  tell  me.  I  do  not  want  to  hear  it,"  she  added,  almost 
fiercely;  "it  can  only  be  a  vague  report.  I  should  not 
believe  it." 

"  Perhaps  you  are  right,"  said  Mary,  trying  to  speak 
calmly,  though  her  voice  was  low  and  shaking.  "  But, 
darling,  Lord  Beaufort  thought  it  better  I  should  tell  you 
that  the  accounts  of  your  dear  husband,  brought  by  some 
of  the  passengers  by  the  last  steamer,  were  very  alarming." 

"  We  knew  that,"  said  Helen,  impatiently.  "  There  is 
always  exaggeration  in  reports  of  illness.  They  cannot 
know  so  much  as  we  do.  Mary,  Mary,  why  do  you  try 
to  frighten  me?  " 

"  Your  brother  thought  that  you  ought  to  know  all, 
and  I  know  my  own  dear  friend,"  she  said,  fondly  caressing 
her,  "  will  exert  herself  for  the  sake  of  all  who  love  her; 
for  the  sake  of  the  husband  who  may  want  all  her  care, 
all  her  strength  of  mind  and  energy." 


244  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

"  He  must,  he  shall  want  them  and  have  them,"  said 
Helen.  "  He  will  be  with  me  to-day."  Suddenly  her 
forced  coldness  gave  way,  and,  throwing  her  arms  round 
her  friend,  she  said,  "  Oh,  Mary,  if  I  am  not  to  see  him 
alive,  what  a  life  of  remorse  and  misery  is  before  me!  " 
Her  tears  flowed  convulsively  for  a  time,  and  then  she  said, 
softly,  "  God's  will  be  done,  but  I  hope  this  suspense  will 
not  last  long;  and  now  let  us  have  everything  in  readiness." 

She  rose  as  she  spoke,  and  began,  with  shaking  hands, 
to  collect  the  few  things  that  were  scattered  on  the  table. 
She  sent  Mary  to  give  the  necessary  orders  to  the  servants, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  they  had  left  the  hotel,  which,  for 
years  after,  Helen  could  never  think  of  without  a  shudder. 


CHAPTER   XLII 

The  house  they  had  taken  was  quiet,  and  sequestered 
from  the  noise  of  the  streets,  and  had  a  small  garden 
attached  to  it.  It  had  evidently  been  newly  furnished, 
and  Helen  set  about  arranging  the  largest  room  in  it  for 
Lord  Teviot,  with  better  hopes  than  she  had  felt  at  the 
hotel.  She  dwelt  again  and  again  to  Mary  on  the  necessity 
of  moving  this  sofa  or  that  arm-chair  to  particular  places, 
because  Teviot  might  like  to  lie  down  near  the  fire,  or  to 
sit  up  near  the  window.  The  cook,  who  had  been  sent  in 
by  Lord  Beaufort,  was  ordered  to  prepare  a  dinner  that 
would  suit  a  man  in  the  strongest  health,  and  with  the 
same  breath  she  ordered  gruel,  and  arrow-root,  and  barley- 
water,  and  all  the  wretched  slops  that  count  for  food  when 
all  wish  for  it  is  over.  Tomkinson  was  so  glad  to  get  away 
from  the  uncomfortable  attic  into  which  she  had  been  put 
at  the  hotel  that  she  was  quite  condescending  to  Laurel 
Cottage,  and  with  the  help  of  Lord  Beaufort's  servant  and 
Lord  Teviot's  footman  collected  a  quantity  of  things  from 
various  tradesmen  that  could  not  possibly  be  of  any  use, 
further  than  the  pleasure  they  gave  her  of  passing  herself 
off  to  herself  as  an  excellent  housekeeper.  And  as  she  was 
really  good-hearted,  she  had  great  ideas  of  saving  my  lady 
trouble,  now  she  was  in  such  grief,  and  she  magnanimously 
forgave  Lord  Teviot  for  calling  her  Tomkins,  and,  indeed, 
would  have  answered  to  "  Tom,"  under  present  circum- 
stances, without  a  murmur.  Mary  had  ascertained  from 
her  aunt  the  name  of  the  best  medical  man  in  the  town ; 

245 


246  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

and  now  everything  was  prepared,  and  they  sat  down  to 
another  hour  of  painful  thought  and  miserable  expectation. 

At  last  Lord  Beaufort  appeared.  "  Helen,  the  packet 
is  in  sight,  and  they  have  signalled  for  a  litter." 

"  Then  he  is  alive;  I  shall  see  him  again.  Oh!  Beau- 
fort, let  us  go ;   I  am  ready." 

She  shook  from  head  to  foot,  but  with  a  strong  effort 
suddenly  composed  herself,  and  taking  her  brother's  arm 
walked  rapidly  on.  Neither  of  them  spoke,  and  yet  this 
miserable  demand  for  a  litter  had  given  them  hopes  they 
had  not  felt  before.  It  is  a  hard  method  of  testing  our 
degree  of  hope  when  we  find  that  what  should  have  brought 
terror  now  brings  relief 

The  packet  was  now  lying  close  to  the  pier.  Lord  Beau- 
fort persuaded  his  sister  to  remain  with  Mary  for  a  few 
minutes  while  he  went  on  board  to  ascertain  more  precisely 
the  state  in  which  Lord  Teviot  was.  They  saw  him 
speaking  to  a  grave-looking  man,  evidently  the  ship's 
surgeon,  and  he  was  soon  joined  by  Mr.  Le  Geyt,  the  secre- 
tary, and  the  captain.  Helen  watched  their  looks  in 
breathless  suspense,  and  at  last,  seeing  Dr.  Grey  shake  his 
head  as  he  eagerly  addressed  Lord  Beaufort,  she  rushed 
from  the  pier  and  the  next  moment  was  standing  at  her 
brother's  side. 

"  My  sister.  Lady  Teviot,"  said  Lord  Beaufort,  looking 
meaningly  at  Dr.  Grey. 

"  I  am  glad  her  ladyship  is  here,"  said  Dr.  Grey,  looking 
painfully  embarrassed,  but  speaking  in  a  calm  monotonous 
voice.  "  As  I  was  observing  to  your  lordship.  Lord  Teviot 
has  had  a  very  severe  attack  of  fever,  very  severe  indeed, 

and  of  course  we  must  expect You  know  we  always 

expect  after  that  sort  of  seizure " 

"  He  is  better?  "  said  Helen. 

"  Well,  yes,  of  course,  otherwise " 


Is  he  better?  "  she  again  repeated.     "  Do  not  look  at 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  247 

my  brother,  but  look  at  me,  sir,  and  tell  me  the  truth,  the 
whole  truth.     I  can  bear  it  better  than  this  suspense." 

Dr.  Grey  did  look  at  her,  and  saw  that  she  was  indeed 
wound  up  to  kno^v  and  to  bear  all,  and  at  once  he  told  her 
that  the  fever  which  had  attacked  Lord  Teviot  was  one  of 
a  very  violent  kind,  and  which  had  proved  fatal  in  many 
instances  at  Lisbon ;  that  when  first  Lord  Teviot  came  on 
board  there  was  little  hope,  but  that  the  fever  itself  had 
subsided,  and  that  the  danger  that  now  existed  was  from 
the  frightful  state  of  weakness  to  which  he  was  reduced. 
*'  But  his  age  and  naturally  strong  constitution  gave  us 
hopes;   certainly  we  have  hopes." 

"  Thank  you;  and  now  that  I  know  all,  let  me  go  to 
him." 

"  I  should  recommend  to  your  ladyship  to  defer  seeing 
him;  there  is  the  difficulty  of  the  removal  still  to  be 
encountered,  and " 

"  I  mean  to  be  with  him  when  he  is  moved,"  said  Helen 
firmly. 

"  And,"  continued  Dr.  Grey,  in  the  quietest  tone,  "  I 
must  apprise  your  ladyship  that  though  it  is  most  unlikely 
that  Lord  Teviot  should  recognize  you,  yet  if  he  does,  and 
your  ladyship  should  show  any  great  degree  of  emotion, 
I  cannot  answer  for  the  consequences." 

"  I  shall  not  show  any  emotion,  and  I  must  see  him," 
said  Helen,  who  felt  as  if  Dr.  Grey  were  a  personal  enemy, 
and  hated  him  as  a  man  totally  without  feeling.  She  was 
quite  wrong;  he  was  kind-hearted,  and  felt  the  greatest 
interest  in  Lord  Teviot's  case ;  but  for  thirty  years  he  had 
been  floating  about  the  world,  or  cooped  up  in  barracks 
with  rough  and  hardy  seamen;  and  he  fought  the  battle 
between  life  and  death  daily  waged  by  the  men  of  his 
profession  with  none  of  the  amenities  which  he  would  have 
acquired  in  more  polished  society. 

"  Had  you  not  better  wait,  dearest,"  said  Lord  Beaufort, 


248  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

"  till  Teviot  has  been  moved  home?  I  will  stay  and  assist 
Dr.  Grey." 

"  No,  no,"  she  said,  with  tears  in  her  eyes.  "  Beaufort, 
I  should  naturally  have  been  with  him  if  I  had  done  my 
duty,  and  had  gone  out  to  Lisbon.  I  feel  I  can  be  quite 
composed;  and  now.  Dr.  Grey,  show  me  to  his  cabin." 

They  saw  that  further  opposition  was  useless,  and  Dr. 
Grey  led  her  immediately  down  the  ladder  that  led  to  Lord 
Teviot's  cabin. 

It  was  nearly  dark;  light  was  oppressive  to  that  weary 
brain  and  those  sunken  eyes ;  and  at  first  Helen  could  only 
dimly  discern  a  figure  lying  motionless  in  a  cot  watched  by 
a  servant,  who  withdrew  on  seeing  Dr.  Grey. 

"  We  have  been  obliged  to  exclude  the  light  very  much," 
Dr.  Grey  said ;  "it  produced  too  much  excitement,  but 
now  it  might  be  as  well  to  accustom  him  to  it  gradually 
before  we  move  him."  He  withdrew  one  of  the  shutters 
as  he  spoke,  and  then  Helen  saw  her  husband.  But  how 
fearfully  changed !  She  could  hardly  bear  to  look  on  the 
livid  face,  the  closed  eyes,  the  thin  dilated  nostrils,  and  the 
painful  expression  of  powerlessness  that  met  her  sight.  One 
bitter  fixed  glance  she  gave,  and  then  sinking  on  her  knees 
she  seized  the  emaciated  hand  that  rested  on  the  bed,  and 
covered  it  with  kisses.  But  quickly  rising,  she  turned  to 
Dr.  Grey  and  whispered,  "  You  see  I  can  restrain  myself, 
and  now  tell  me  what  is  next  to  be  done,  and  how  you  can 
make  me  of  use."  He  saw  that  she  had  power  over  herself, 
and  said  kindly,  "  I  see  you  will  make  a  good  nurse.  The 
first  step  is  to  get  him  moved  into  some  very  quiet  room." 

"  That  is  all  ready." 

"  I  should  like  further  advice.  I  have  other  duties  to 
attend  to,  and  this  is  a  case  that  requires  unceasing  care." 

"  Dr.  Morant  is  already  warned,  and  will  meet  you  at 
any  moment." 

"  Then  now  let  me  ask  you  to  return  to  your  brother, 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  249 

and  the  bearers  who  are  in  waiting  will  take  up  Lord 
Teviot  in  his  cot,  and  you  shall  direct  us  to  your  house." 

He  opened  the  cabin-door  as  he  spoke,  and  a  flood  of 
light  streamed  in  and  fell  on  Helen  as  she  stood  by  her 
husband's  bedside.  The  light  seemed  to  pain  him,  for  his 
brow  contracted  into  rigid  furrows,  and  then  the  dim,  filmy 
eyes  opened  and  turned  upon  her.  For  one  moment  there 
was  a  ray  of  intelligence  in  them,  but  as  Helen  stooped  to 
kiss  the  pale  lips  which  she  fancied  had  almost  smiled  on 
her,  the  feeble  gaze  turned  away,  and  with  a  slight  moan 
Lord  Teviot  relapsed  into  unconsciousness. 

"  Now,  my  good  lady,"  said  Dr.  Grey,  "  the  less  we  have 
of  this  sort  of  thing  the  better.  Come  away."  He  led  her 
to  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  where  she  turned  and  said  in  a 
beseeching  voice,  "  He  knew  me.  Dr.  Grey;  say  that  you 
think  he  did." 

"  Well,  perhaps  so,"  said  the  doctor,  who  was  moved  by 
her  youth  and  loveliness ;  "  but  don't  try  experiments,  we 
have  not  strength  for  them.  Here  she  is,  my  lord,"  he 
added,  addressing  Lord  Beaufort.  "  Take  her  on  deck, 
and  we  shall  get  under  weigh  directly." 

Lord  Beaufort  looked  at  his  sister  with  painful  astonish- 
ment. She  was  quite  colourless.  Years  seemed  to  have 
passed  over  her  head  in  those  few  minutes  that  had  been 
passed  in  that  cabin.  The  girl  whose  short  life  had  been 
spent  in  gay  and  young  frivolity  had  now  looked  one  of  the 
sternest  and  hardest  realities  of  life  in  the  face ;  and  that 
one  look  had  changed  her  to  the  anxious,  doubting  woman. 
"  The  golden  exhalations  of  the  dawn  "  had  passed  away, 
and  by  the  light  of  open  day  she  saw  the  battle  of  life  lying 
before  her,  and  she  roused  herself  for  the  encounter. 

Dr.  Grey  soon  reappeared  with  his  charge.  A  curtain 
was  thrown  over  the  cot,  by  the  side  of  which  Helen  walked, 
heedless,  indeed  unaware,  of  the  compassionate  looks  of  the 
bystanders,  and  they  reached  their  home ;  and  Lord  Teviot 


250  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

was  conveyed  to  his  bed,  showing  no  sign  of  consciousness 
of  the  change  made  in  his  position. 

And  now  began  for  Helen  the  Hfe  of  a  nurse.  Oh  !  who 
is  there  fortunate  enough  not  to  know  the  routine  of  those 
painful  days  and  nights  of  anxiety,  which  seem  never  to 
have  had  a  beginning,  and  never  to  know  an  end — so  long, 
if  measured  by  the  intensity  of  the  feelings — so  short,  if 
reckoned  by  the  progress  that  has  been  made?  Fallacious 
hopes  followed  by  groundless  despair;  the  promise  of 
recovery  that  had  shown  itself  in  the  morning,  succeeded 
by  the  sudden  relapse  in  the  evening;  the  medical  visits 
bringing  with  them  hope,  and  leaving  behind  them  a 
sensation  of  blank  disappointment ;  letters  of  inquiry  which 
seem  cold  or  importunate,  and  full  of  advice  that  only 
perplexes  the  anxious  watcher,  and  requesting  answers  for 
which  there  is  neither  time  nor  inclination.  These  are  the 
minor  troubles  of  the  day ;  but  who  can  describe  the  faint 
sickening  of  the  heart  of  the  young  wife  who  had  hitherto 
seen  but  little  illness,  and  who  now  saw  it  in  its  most  fearful 
form?  The  removal  from  the  ship  brought  on  a  return 
of  fever,  and  the  voice  which  Helen  had  feared  she  would 
hear  no  more  now  rang  in  her  ears  with  all  the  harshness 
of  delirium;  but  it  was  harshness  of  tone  only.  She  heard 
her  own  name  repeated  again  and  again  with  words  of  the 
fondest  endearment;  and  when  the  silence  of  weakness 
followed,  she  almost  regretted  the  terrors  of  the  active 
paroxysm. 

During  that  night,  and  several  that  followed  it,  she  never 
quitted  his  room:  there  were  hired  nurses  in  attendance, 
medical  men  always  at  hand,  and  her  brother  ready  and 
anxious  to  take  her  place,  but  she  steadfastly  refused  to 
leave  her  husband.  She  slept  on  a  mattress  placed  on  the 
floor  at  the  side  of  his  bed ;  sometimes  the  short  sleep  ended 
with  a  start,  and  with  a  vague  feeling  that  something 
dreadful  was  taking  place ;   sometimes  with  the  sound  sleep 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  251 

of  youth,  but  there  she  was,  able  to  rouse  herself  and  be  of 
use  on  the  slightest  notice. 

Lord  Beaufort  watched  her  with  the  tenderest  care.  He 
could  not  bear  the  sights  and  sounds  of  the  sick-room 
with  the  quiet  fortitude  which  she  evinced.  Lord  Teviot's 
wanderings,  and  the  death-like  weakness  that  followed, 
completely  overcame  him;  and  after  one  peculiarly  bad 
night,  when  the  nurse  had  called  him  up  to  assist  his  sister, 
he  came  down  into  the  breakfast-room  quite  worn  out,  and 
laying  his  head  on  the  table,  burst  into  a  passion  of  tears. 

Mary,  who  was  writing  letters  to  the  various  members  of 
the  family,  looked  at  him  with  the  warmest  pity.  The  few 
last  days  had  given  her  a  new  view  of  his  character.  She 
had  once  thought  him  cold  and  worldly ;  but  his  tenderness 
to  his  sister,  his  thoughtfulness  and  consideration  for  all 
about  him,  the  confidence  he  showed  to  herself,  and  the 
deep  interest  they  both  took  in  Lord  Teviot's  illness,  had 
brought  them  to  a  new  understanding,  and  had  entirely 
done  away  with  the  reserve  that  had  once  subsisted  between 
them. 

"What  is  it,  dear  Lord  Beaufort?  "  she  said,  going  to 
him  and  taking  his  hand  as  if  he  had  been  her  brother. 
"  Is  he  worse?  " 

"Yes,  I  fear  he  is;  it  has  been  a  dreadful  night.  I 
cannot  bear  to  see  that  fine  fellow  so  utterly  prostrated. 
And  Helen,  my  darling  Helen !  it  kills  me  to  look  at  that 
angel ;  she  will  wear  herself  out,  and  she  looks  so  miserable, 
and  yet  is  so  calm  and  self-possessed.  She  soothes  him  when 
no  one  else  can.  Sometimes  I  fancy  he  knows  her,  and  yet 
he  talks  of  her  always  as  absent.  Miss  Forrester,  it  is  hard 
upon  you  to  be  brought  into  all  our  distress." 

"  It  would  be  far  harder  if  I  were  kept  away  from  it," 
she  said;  and  she,  too,  had  tears  in  her  eyes;  "  but  I  am 
more  sanguine  than  you.  The  doctor  seemed  more  hopeful 
yesterday  evening,  and  they  told  us  we  might  expect  a 


252  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

return  of  fever.  I  think  I  had  better  say  nothing  about  the 
night  to  dear  Lady  Eskdale ;  do  not  you  ?  Perhaps  in  the 
afternoon  I  shall  be  able  to  write  word  he  is  better;  and 
now  I  will  make  your  breakfast." 

He  kissed  the  hand  that  had  held  his,  and  said,  "  I  think 
you  are  right  not  to  alarm  my  mother  more  than  can  be 
helped ;  but  if  he  is  not  better  to-morrow,  my  father  and 
she  will  certainly  come." 

However,  the  next  day  there  was  certainly  some  improve- 
ment ;  and  in  the  evening  there  was  less  fever,  and  a  greater 
disposition  to  sleep.  The  doctors  recommended  that  food 
should  be  given  every  two  hours,  and  Helen  rose  from  her 
mattress  each  time  to  administer  it  herself  Once  he 
seemed  to  sink  back  as  if  he  were  fainting ;  and  she  was 
about  to  call  the  nurse,  when  she  heard  the  longed-for  whisper 
— "  Helen,  my  darling."  She  saw  that  she  was  recog- 
nized, and,  stooping  down,  fondly  caressed  him.  "  Where 
am  I?  "  were  the  next  faint  words.  "  You  are  with  me, 
dearest,  at  Southampton ;  you  have  been  very  ill,  but  you 
are  spared  to  me.  Now  you  must  not  speak  another  word." 
She  kissed  his  forehead,  and,  sinking  on  her  knees,  she 
poured  forth,  in  a  low  tone,  those  eloquent  words  which 
gratitude  wrings  from  the  full  heart  that  had  seemed  dead 
and  cold,  when  all  that  it  had  at  stake  was  to  be  wrestled 
for.  The  prayers  had  been  faint  and  doubting,  but  the 
praise  was  full  and  fervent.  Lord  Teviot  was  too  weak 
even  to  understand  the  thanksgiving  offered  by  his  wife, 
but  the  sound  seemed  to  soothe  him;  and  once  more 
looking  at  her,  he  murmured,  "Thank  you,  my  own," 
and  again  sank  into  a  quiet  sleep. 


CHAPTER   XLIII 

When  Lord  Beaufort  and  Mary  saw  Helen  in  the  morning, 
the  first  look  was  sufficient  to  assure  them  of  the  favourable 
change  that  had  taken  place.  Pale  and  wearied  as  she  was, 
the  whole  expression  of  her  countenance  was  altered. 
"  What  would  we  have  given  a  week  ago  for  the  chance  of 
such  a  morning  as  this?  "  she  said.  "  Even  our  sententious 
Dr.  Grey  is  satisfied,  and  said,  without  moving  a  muscle, 
'  We  are  all  right  now  ' ;  but  I  know  he  is  very  glad :  just 
look  at  the  marks  my  rings  have  made  in  my  fingers,  in 
consequence  of  the  warmth  of  his  congratulatory  squeeze ; 
and  Dr.  Morant  considers  the  danger  quite  over.  Beaufort, 
dear,  don't  you  think  you  ought  to  go  to  Eskdale,  and  tell 
them  all  this?  Mamma  will  be  so  interested  in  all  the 
details  you  can  give  her." 

"  Well,"  he  said,  looking  at  Mary,  "  perhaps  it  would 
be  a  good  plan;  but  if  I  write  to-day,  and  then  take  a 
confirmed  good  account  to-morrow,  that  would  be  still 
more  satisfactory." 

"  But  you  would  be  with  them  to-night,  and,  as  I 
know  by  experience,  a  night  of  anxiety  is  a  long,  weary 
intervention.  " 

"  Oh !  Nelly,  I  see  how  it  is,"  he  said,  laughingly. 
"  You  want  to  have  Teviot  all  to  yourself,  and  so  turn  me 
off,  now  I  can  be  of  no  further  use." 

"  No,  no;  what  should  I  have  done  without  you,  Beau- 
fort ?  you  are  always  of  use  to  me ;  but  as  to  Teviot,  it  is 
true  that  when  he  is  quite  himself  again,  I  had  rather — I 

253 


254  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

mean  that  he  had  rather  I  should  tell  him  that  we  are 
quite  alone.     He  must  be  kept  quite  quiet,  you  know." 

"  Yes,  I  see  plainly  that  you  want  to  get  rid  of  us.  Perhaps 
it  is  better;  and  a  week  or  ten  days  hence  he  might  like 
to  see  me,  and  I  could  come  back  again." 

"  I  am  sure  he  would  like  it,"  she  said,  eagerly,  "  and  so 
should  I;  and  now  I  must  go  back  to  him,  and  I  will 
bring  you  a  note  for  dear  mamma.  It  is  the  first  time  I 
have  had  the  heart  to  write  to  her.  Dear  Beaufort  and 
Mary,"  she  added,  in  a  faltering  voice,  "  I  never  can 
thank  you  enough  for  all  you  have  done." 

They  were  left  alone.  Beaufort  walked  straight  up  to 
Miss  Forrester,  and  taking  her  hand,  said  "  Yes;  you  have 
been  all  and  everything  to  us,  Mary ;  let  me  call  you  Mary, 
if  only  for  this  once.  I  know  that  I  must  formerly  have  been 
hateful  to  you ;  I  know  that  I  was  most  unjust ;  but  all  that 
is  long  gone  by.  You  must  have  seen  that  it  was.  Have 
you  seen,  too,  that  you  are  now  dearer  to  me  than  any 
other  human  being ;  that  the  wish  of  my  heart  is  to  gain 
your  affection  ?  Mary,  speak  to  me,  and  tell  me  if  I  have 
any  chance  of  success." 

"  Oh,  take  time,"  she  said,  with  much  emotion;  "  recol- 
lect how  ill  you  thought  of  me  only  ten  days  ago." 

"No,  no,"  he  said;  "these  last  ten  days  have  only 
shown  me  how  perfect  you  are — how  unselfish — how  full 
of  kindness;  but  long  before  that,  at  the  time  of  the 
election,  my  love  for  you  began:  but  you  were  so  cold 
to  me,  I  dared  not  show  it.  Mary,  I  was  misled  by  the 
foolish  assertions  of  a  very  unworthy  friend.  Even  at  the 
time  I  hardly  believed  what  he  said,  and  now!  Mary, 
cannot  you  forget  that  I  once  thought  you  might  have  a 
fault?  " 

"  Willingly,  if  you  will  go  on  believing  that  I  have  a 
great  many.  One  of  them,  as  we  are  confessing,  I  too 
will   confess.     I  resented   very  foolishly  the  opinion  you 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  255 

expressed  of  me ;  and  was  quite  as  unjust  to  you  afterwards 
as  you  had  formerly  been  to  me.  But  since  we  have  been 
here,  we  have  understood  each  other  better,  and  I 
look  upon  you  now,  Lord  Beaufort,  as  a  very  sincere 
friend." 

"  Oh  !  pray  don't  do  that;  that  is  the  last  thing  I  should 
wish.  No,  Mary,  I  again  repeat,  I  love  you  devotedly; 
my  only  hope  is  that  you  will  consent  to  be  my  wife.  Why 
do  you  look  so  distressed?  " 

She  coloured  violently,  and  seemed  to  find  a  difficulty 
in  speaking;  and  could  not  even  raise  her  eyes  to  his. 
But  with  a  strong  effort  the  cloud  seemed  to  pass  away, 
and  she  said,  firmly,  "  Such  frankness  as  yours  deserves 
a  frank  answer.  I  will  tell  you  the  whole  truth.  Lord 
Beaufort ;  you  know  that  I  have  loved  before,  and  I  had 
not  a  moment's  happiness  while  that  love  lasted,  for  I  had 
no  trust.  I  feel,"  she  added,  timidly,  "  that  towards  you 
this  distrust  could  not  exist;  on  my  side  there  would  be 
perfect  confidence;  but  you,  you  would  remember  my 
first  choice,  and  you  would  perhaps  always  doubt  one  who 
had  chosen  so  unworthily." 

"  Never  for  an  instant :  it  was  your  discernment  with 
regard  to  Stuart  that  first  made  me  admire  you ;  and  when 
I  found  that  your  conduct  with  regard  to  him  had  been  so 
true,  so  unlike  what  he  had  led  me  to  believe,  my  shame  at 
my  own  conduct  was  all  that  prevented  me  from  telling 
you,  long  ago,  how  strong  my  admiration  was.  Mary, 
let  me  go  to  my  mother  with  more  than  one  piece  of  happy 
news.  Let  me  tell  her  of  my  own  happiness  as  well  as 
Helen's." 

What  more  was  there  to  be  said?  Mary  gave  the 
*' Yes  "  so  earnestly  requested;  and  by  the  time  Lord 
Beaufort's  carriage  came  to  the  door,  they  had  talked  them- 
selves into  the  belief  that  they  had  liked  each  other  from 
the  first;    that  Mary  had  never  had  any  real  affection  for 


256  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

Colonel  Stuart,  and  that  Lord  Beaufort  was  the  only  man 
whom  she  had  ever  or  could  ever  have  loved. 

How  warmly  he  was  received  at  home,  or  how  welcome 
his  intelligence  was  to  Lord  and  Lady  Eskdale,  may  easily 
be  guessed. 


CHAPTER  XLIV 

Colonel  Stuart's  arrival  at  Portsdown  was  a  great 
boon  to  Lady  Portmore,  who  was  living  in  a  sea  of  tracas- 
series  and  explanations  ;  to  all  of  which  he  graciously 
inclined  his  ear.  He  delighted  in  a  promising  bud  of 
tracasserie,  and  nursed  it  into  a  full-blown  flower  with  all 
the  care  that  a  horticulturist  bestows  on  a  cankered  yellow 
rose.  He  advised  sharp  letters  in  one  direction,  friendly 
appeals  in  another,  epigrams  were  suggested  here,  and 
bemoanings  there ;  wrongs  dressed  out,  and  rights  sup- 
pressed, till  it  seemed  somehow  as  if  everybody  were  to 
blame ;  and  the  original  petty  affront  widened  into  a 
circle  of  heart-burnings  and  coolnesses.  He  and  Lady 
Portmore  were  adepts  at  this  game,  except  that  she  was 
all  fire  and  talk,  and  he  all  suavity  and  reason  ;  but 
between  them  they  made  a  great  deal  of  mischief.  She 
was  now  in  a  state  of  political  transition,  which  gave  great 
promise  of  involvements.  To  Mr.  G.'s  original  offence 
of  neglecting  Lord  Portmore,  he  had  now  added  the  sin 
of  refusing  an  appointment  to  a  very  disreputable  nephew 
of  Lady  Portmore's,  who  had  been  turned  out  of  both 
army  and  navy,  and  therefore,  as  she  pointedly  observed, 
"  Mr.  G.  must  see  that  as  the  young  man  was  not  fit  for 
the  Church,  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  give  him  a  good 
colonial  appointment ;  he  could  not  starve."  Mr.  G. 
asked,  "  Why  not?  "  and  thought  a  slight  course  of  starva- 
tion would  perhaps  be  wholesome;  but,  at  all  events,  he 
declined  peremptorily  giving  a  good  office  to  a  very  mauvais 
sujet.  Lady  Portmore  was  affronted.  Mr.  G.  did  not  care. 
R  257 


258  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED    COUPLE 

She  wrote  eight  pages  of  upbraiding  and  serious  entreaty, 
which  he  answered  by  four  Hnes  of  jocose  denial;  and  the 
result  was  a  complete  and  entire  change  in  Lady  Portmore's 
opinion  on  free  trade,  parliamentary  reform,  foreign  policy, 
etc.  She  did  not  state  the  precise  nature  of  her  new  views, 
but  was  simply  sorry  to  say  that  she  and  Lord  Portmore 
had  quite  lost  all  confidence  in  G.,  and  thought  him  a  most 
dangerous  minister,  and  were  very  thankful  that  the  country 
had  a  Mr.  Sheffield  to  look  to.  When  Colonel  Stuart 
arrived,  she  had  given  warning  to  all  her  old  Government 
friends,  and  was  organizing  a  large  meeting  of  former 
enemies,  in  which  she  wanted  his  assistance. 

Lord  Teviot  was  of  course  included  in  the  general 
proscription  of  Mr.  G.'s  friends,  and  therefore  this  history 
of  the  claims  of  Mr.  Lorimer  was  not  altogether  unpleasant 
to  her.  Some  little  time  ago  she  would  have  waged  war 
to  the  knife  against  anyone  who  could  have  spread  or 
believed  such  a  report ;  but  now,  as  it  had  been  told  to  her 
in  confidence,  she  began  by  writing  it  to  fifteen  intimate 
friends ;  and  then  took  to  dissecting  it  with  her  accustomed 
consistency. 

"  I  really  am  quite  grieved  to  the  heart  about  this  sad 
story  of  poor  Teviot.  Supposing  it  should  turn  out  to  be 
true — I  am  sure  I  hope  it  will  not;  what  is  to  become  of 
him?  G.'s  Government  cannot  last  a  month  after  Parlia- 
ment meets,  so  office  will  be  no  resource,  even  if  G.  does  not 
turn  upon  him  at  once,  of  which  he  is  quite  capable. 
Such  a  blow  to  the  Eskdales!  Do  they  know  this 
story?  " 

"  I  thought  it  advisable  to  mention  it  to  Lady  Walden, 
and  I  believe  she  told  her  sister;  but  a  bad  account  of 
Lord  Teviot  hurried  Lady  Teviot  away.  I  did  not  see  her 
again." 

"Ah,  Lady  Teviot!  Many  people  think  her  very 
pretty ;   I  am  not  sure  I  do,  and,  by  the  by,  she  will  not  be 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  259 

Lady  Teviot  if  Mr.  Lorimer  gains  his  suit.  How  strange ! 
What  will  she  be?" 

''  Lady  Helen  Lorimer,  unless  there  is  some  female 
title:  Teviot  may  claim  through  some  grandmother  or 
great-grandmother." 

*'  Oh  no,  I  am  sure  there  is  not:  I  know  a  great  deal 
about  that  family.  I  fancy  we  are  connected  in  some  way. 
No,  you  may  depend  upon  it,  she  will  be  only  Helen 
Lorimer,  and  they  will  be  absolute  paupers.  This  is  really 
very  sad " ;  and  Lady  Portmore  looked  radiant  with 
sorrow. 

"  I  should  be  very  sorry  if  that  old  title  went  to  such  an 
unmitigated  scamp  as  Harry  Lorimer,"  said  Colonel 
Stuart,  "  to  say  nothing  of  the  loss  to  our  friends  at  St. 
Mary's;  but  nobody  in  these  days  cares  about  their 
friends." 

"  I  do,"  said  Lady  Portmore  severely;  "  nobody  is  so 
constant  to  their  friends  as  I  am ;  and  poor  Teviot  was  quite 
devoted  to  me ;  but  at  the  same  time,  if  Harry  Lorimer  has 
a  right  to  the  title,  of  course  he  ought  to  have  it,  and  he 
must  be  allowed  to  take  his  proper  position  in  society.  I 
think  I  have  asked  him  before  to  some  of  my  parties.  Have 
I,  Stuart?  Is  not  he  a  man  all  over  black  hair,  with  great 
whiskers?  " 

"  Yes,  a  regular  tiger;  but  he  is  a  good  actor,  and  was 
tolerated  at  the  Westerbys  for  the  sake  of  their  private 
theatricals." 

*'  Dear  me !  how  convenient  it  would  be  to  have  him 
here !  we  are  in  such  want  of  a  good  Paul  Pry ;  but,  with 
my  regard  for  the  Teviots,  it  would  not  do,  I  suppose,  to 
ask  him  just  now.  Besides,  I  am  quite  wretched  about 
Teviot's  illness,  and  must  write  by  this  post  to  Lady  Eskdale, 
to  ask  how  he  is,  and  then  we  shall  just  have  time  for  a 
rehearsal.  I  am  very  much  disappointed  in  William 
Montague;    he  is  a  regular  stick  on  the  stage.     Harry 


26o  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

Lorimer  would  be  a  treasure  to  us  just  now;  but,  as  I  said, 
I  suppose  the  Teviots  might  hear  of  it.  What  do  you 
think,  Stuart,  could  I  ask  him?  " 

"  Certainly  not,"  said  Colonel  Stuart,  who  was  alarmed 
at  such  an  instance  of  want  of  tact  and  feeling;  "  besides, 
he  is  a  vulgar  dog  at  best." 

"Oh,  well!  then  that  settles  the  point;  and  besides, 
Teviot  is  such  a  friend  of  mine,  only  I  wish  we  could 
detach  him  from  the  G.  politics.  Mr.  G.  is  just  the  sort  of 
man  to  give  him  a  peerage,  if  he  loses  his  own.  Such  a 
job!  However,  I  will  write  and  ask  the  Sheffields;  his 
attack  on  G.  at  that  agricultural  meeting  was  wonderfully 
clever." 

And  thus  ended  Lady  Portmore's  interest  in  one  of  her 
hundred  dear  friends.  Even  Mrs.  Douglas  felt  more  in  her 
grumbling,  unrefined  way.  Illness,  independent  of  its 
merits  as  a  destroyer  of  good  looks,  had  always  a  certain 
charm  for  her.  She  was  an  excellent  nurse,  and  now  that 
the  Teviots  were  in  adversity,  she  warmed  heartily  to  them ; 
sent  every  day  to  the  Castle  for  the  latest  accounts  from 
Southampton;  and  though  she  continued  to  pity  Lady 
Eskdale  for  having  married  her  daughters  so  ill,  she  was 
unfeignedly  grieved  for  Helen,  and  would  have  gone  to 
Southampton  herself  if  she  could  have  been  allowed  to 
assist  in  attending  on  Lord  Teviot. 


CHAPTER  XLV 

But  Helen  wanted  no  assistance.  The  tameless  energy 
of  eighteen  bore  her  through  all  the  fatigues  of  broken 
nights  and  watchful  days;  and  every  hour  her  husband 
became  dearer  to  her  as  she  became  more  necessary  to 
him.  His  eyes  followed  her  with  the  tenderest  gaze  as  she 
moved  noiselessly  about  his  room;  the  hand  that  brought 
him  refreshment  or  medicine  was  warmly  pressed  to  his 
lips ;  the  fondest  words  of  endearment  fell  gently  from  his 
pallid  lips.  If  she  left  the  room,  he  could  have  addressed 
her  in  the  touching  words  of  one  of  the  best  of  English 
poetesses : 

"  Watch  me,  oh,  watch  me  still, 

Through  the  long  night's  dreary  hours — 
Uphold,  by  thy  firm  will, 

Worn  nature's  sinking  powers. 
While  yet  I  see  thee  there 

(Thy  loose  locks  round  thee  flying), 
So  young,  and  firesh,  and  fair, 

I  feel  not  I  am  dying." 

Helen  had  expected,  from  former  recollections,  that  the 
period  of  convalescence  might  be  one  of  impatience  and 
irritation.  "  All  men  are  impatient  when  they  are  ill," 
she  thought;  "  but  somehow  I  do  not  think  I  shall  mind  it 
now.  I  know  I  can  make  him  follow  all  Dr.  Grey's  direc- 
tions, and  that  is  all  that  is  of  real  importance ;  and  if  he  is 
low  and  vexed  at  times,  it  is  only  natural,  poor  fellow!  " 
But  he  never  was  vexed  or  cross,  which  was  the  word  that 
Helen  had  sedulously  refrained  from  using,  even  in  her 
thoughts.     Once  he  was  almost  peremptory  in  his  orders 

261 


262  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

that  she  should  go  to  her  own  room  and  take  one  good 
night's  rest,  leaving  him  to  the  care  of  the  nurse ;  but  he 
was  met  by  an  equally  peremptory  refusal,  and  an  assertion 
that  a  mattress  on  the  floor  was  the  most  comfortable  bed 
possible ;  and  he  was  also  told  that  he  was  on  no  account 
to  interfere  with  the  arrangements  of  the  sick-room,  but  to 
do  what  he  was  told,  and  get  well  as  fast  as  he  could.  He 
only  smiled,  as  he  saw  that  all  fear  of  him  had  passed  away, 
and  in  the  perfect  ease  of  Helen's  manner,  amounting  to 
playfulness,  when  he  was  well  enough  to  be  amused,  he  felt 
that  the  love  which  he  had  once  doubted,  and  almost 
driven  away,  was  again  his  own ;  and  a  quiet  rest  came  over 
the  weary  heart  which  had  loved  with  all  the  irritation  of 
believing  it  met  with  no  return. 

She  told  him  of  her  hurried  journey,  of  her  troubles  at 
the  hotel,  and  insisted  on  his  thinking  Laurel  Cottage — 
which  could  hold  only  themselves  and  four  servants — the 
most  charming  residence  in  the  world. 

"  My  poor  Helen,  what  a  quantity  of  trouble  I  have 
given  you !  but  surely  you  ought  not  to  have  been  alone 
at  that  horrible  hotel." 

"  I  was  not,"  she  said,  quite  frankly,  for  she  felt  that  the 
days  of  jealousy  were  over.  "  Mary  Forrester  lives  in  this 
neighbourhood,  and  she  came  with  me;  and  Beaufort 
joined  us,  and  was  so  useful  during  that  first  dreadful  week — 
sitting  up  half  the  night,  and  writing  accounts  of  you  half 
the  day,  and  making  love  to  Mary  at  all  odd  moments; 
and  those  two  people  who  had  hated  each  other  fell  in  love 
on  the  strength  of  their  mutual  interest  in  your  illness. 
You  have  made  that  marriage,  dearest,  simply  by  the 
fright  you  gave  us." 

"Dear  old  Beaufort!"  said  Lord  Teviot;  "he  is  a 
thorough  good  fellow.  I  fancied  I  had  a  vision  of  him  one 
night  by  my  bedside.  Helen,  I  should  so  like  to  see  him. 
Am  not  I  well  enough?  " 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  263 

"  Not  quite,  dear;  to-morrow  Dr.  Grey  thinks  you  may 
be  moved  into  the  next  room,  and  your  servant  has  ambitious 
views  of  shaving  you,  and  dressing  you  up  in  a  splendid 
dressing-gown.  After  that  I  may  perhaps  allow  you  to 
'  see  company,'  on  a  limited  scale ;  and  Beaufort  will 
come  down  to  us  whenever  you  like,  but  at  present  he  is 
in  London."  She  did  not  add  that  he  was  there  engaged 
with  lawyers  on  the  subject  of  Harry  Lorimer's  claims; 
she  was  most  anxious  to  keep  that  worrying  history  from 
her  husband  as  long  as  possible. 

"And  your  mother?"  he  said.  "I  do  not  suppose 
there  is  such  another  nurse  in  the  world  as  my  dear  little 
wife ;  but  still,  Lady  Eskdale  must  have  great  qualifications 
for  that  office.  I  should  like  her  to  pet  me  in  her  soft  way ; 
and  if  she  were  here,  you  would  be  satisfied  to  leave  me 
with  her,  and  go  out  for  a  little  air  and  exercise." 

*'  No,  I  should  not.  I  take  plenty  of  exercise,  running 
about  the  house  in  your  service ;  and  mamma  is  so  gentle, 
she  would  let  you  commit  all  sorts  of  imprudences."  She 
was  silent  for  a  few  moments,  and  a  deep  flush  spread  itself 
over  her  drooping  face,  then,  suddenly  raising  her  eyes,  she 
said,  "My  own  darling,  I  do  not  wish  that  anyone,  not  even 
mamma,  should  come  between  you  and  me  just  now.'* 
She  threw  her  arms  round  him,  and,  with  a  fond  kiss,  added, 
"  Teviot,  you  once  thought  I  did  not  love  you  as  you  loved 
me.  You  do  not  think  so  now,  do  you?  You  never  will 
think  so  again  ?  I  was  afraid  of  you,  I  believe — perhaps  at 
last  a  little  jealous ;  but  you  were  no  sooner  gone  than  I 
found  out  that  I  was  very  unhappy  without  you.  Then 
came  the  news  of  your  illness ;  and  when  I  saw  you  in  that 
wretched  cabin,  dying  as  I  thought,  I  cannot  tell  you  " — 
and  she  shuddered  as  she  spoke — "  my  utter  misery — the 
remorse  I  felt  at  having  ever  consented  to  leave  you. 
How  wrong  I  was  !  " 

"  No,  no !  "  he  interrupted  her,  as  he  pressed  her  to  his 


264  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

heart.  "  I  do  not  wonder  you  were  glad  to  get  away  from 
me.  I  behaved  Hke  an  idiot  and  a  brute,  and  frightened 
my  poor  child  out  of  her  senses,  and  expected  her  to  love 
me  all  the  more  for  it." 

"  Well,"  she  said,  smiling  through  her  tears,  "  you  have 
frightened  me  into  them  again.  The  terrors  of  the  last 
fortnight  have  been  much  worse  than  those  of  St.  Mary's ; 
but  they  have  satisfied  me  on  one  point — that  when  I 
thought  I  did  not  love  you  more  than  any  other  human 
being,  I  was  only  deceiving  myself  and  you.  Oh,  Teviot, 
in  all  your  wanderings  and  sufferings  you  were  so  good,  so 
kind !  Sometimes  I  thought  my  heart  would  break,  when 
you  spoke  so  lovingly  of  me,  not  knowing  that  I  was  by  you. 
However,  all  this  is  over  now!  I  cannot  be  thankful 
enough  that  you  have  been  spared,  and  now  only 
promise " 

"  I  will  promise  at  once,  without  being  asked,  never  to 
distrust  my  own  Helen  again.  How  can  I  ever  doubt  your 
affection,"  he  said,  with  much  emotion,  "  when  I  know 
that  I  owe  my  life,  under  Heaven,  to  your  devotion? 
Kiss  me  once  more,  my  darling,  and  then  I  will  rest." 

And  the  rest  which  succeeded  this  spontaneous  avowal 
of  his  wife's  true  affection  was  the  calmest  and  the  most 
refreshing  the  invalid  had  yet  known.  Helen's  mind  was 
not  so  peaceful.  She  knew  that  there  was  yet  a  trial  in 
store  for  him,  and  one  that  he  would  feel  deeply.  A  number 
of  letters  were  waiting  for  him ;  and  at  last  the  moment 
came  in  which  he  asked  for  them.  Her  hand  shook  as  she 
gave  them,  and  she  said,  with  a  faltering  voice,  "  I  hope 
there  will  be  no  bad  news  in  them." 

"No,"  he  said;  "I  cannot  anticipate  any  to-day.  I 
feel  so  much  better,  and  it  is  such  a  comfort  to  be  by  an 
open  window,  and  to  breathe  the  fresh  air  again !  It  is  so 
very  mild  for  the  time  of  year,  that  I  really  wish,  Nell,  you 
would  go  out  for  a  short  walk.     You  ought  to  have  had 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  265 

your  carriage  sent  down ;  but  we  shall  be  moving  soon  to 
Teviot  House.  Will  you  take  your  maid,  and  go  out? 
You  see  I  have  plenty  of  amusement,"  pointing  to  the  heaps 
of  letters  that  were  lying  by  him. 

"  Well,  I  think  I  will  go  for  half  an  hour,  as  you  do  not 
want  me,"  said  Helen,  who  dreaded  the  effect  that  the  first 
announcement  of  Mr.  Lorimer's  pretensions  might  have 
on  Lord  Teviot  in  his  present  weak  state;  and  conjec- 
tured that  he  would  dislike  having  any  witness  of  his  first 
emotions.     "  I  shall  not  be  long  away." 

When  she  returned,  she  found  him  still  lying  on  his  sofa, 
looking  exhausted,  and  with  two  red,  feverish  spots  on  his 
cheeks.  A  quantity  of  opened  letters  were  strewed  on  the 
carpet  beside  him ;  others,  unopened,  were  still  on  the  table. 
She  knelt  down,  and,  taking  his  thin  hand  in  hers,  said, 
"  You  have  been  overtiring  yourself  with  those  tiresome 
letters." 

"  Perhaps  so,"  he  said,  dejectedly. 

"  Do  not  open  any  more ;  let  me  look  over  the  others  for 
you." 

"  No,  no,"  he  said  hastily.  "  You  should  not  see  them; 
they  are  full  of  vexation." 

"  That  is  all  the  more  reason  why  I  should,  dear  Teviot. 
Do  not  keep  any  vexations  to  yourself;  we  should  bear 
them  better  together." 

"  It  was  for  your  sake  I  did  not  want  you  to  know  what 
I  have  heard.  My  poor  Helen,  what  will  you  feel,  when  you 
know  that,  in  marrying  me,  you  may  have  married  an 
unconscious  impostor  ?  that  name,  and  fortune,  and  all " 

"  You  mean,"  she  said,  looking  up  at  him  with  a  smile, 
and  kissing  the  hand  she  held,  "  that  Harry  Lorimer  is 
trying  to  take  it  all  from  us.  He  means  to  be  Lord  Teviot 
himself.  Happily  he  cannot  be  my  Teviot,  whatever 
happens ;  and  who  knows  if  he  will  not  fail  in  all  the  rest !  " 

"  Helen!  "  said  Lord  Teviot,  starting  up,  "  is  it  possible 


266  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

that  you  have  heard  this  history  before  ?  How  long  have 
you  known  it?  " 

"  Before  I  left  Eskdale." 

"  And  you  have  had  all  this  anxiety  on  your  mind  while 
you  have  been  working  like  a  slave  in  your  attendance  on 
me,  and  seeming  to  have  no  care  but  for  my  health." 

"  Why,  you  foolish  old  darling,  don't  you  see  that  the 
great  care  swallowed  up  the  little  one  ?  I  hardly  know  how 
to  explain  myself,  because  I  can  understand  that  as  you 
have  been  attached  all  your  life  to  St.  Mary's  and  Teviot 
House,  and  your  name  and  station,  it  would  be  a  cruel 
trial  to  you  to  lose  all  this;  so  I  did  feel  at  times  very 
unhappy  when  I  thought  you  had  to  hear  it  all  as  soon  as 
you  were  strong  enough  to  bear  it ;  but  so  far  as  /  am  con- 
cerned, dear  Teviot  (do  not  think  me  unfeeling),  but  this 
is  not  the  sort  of  trial  that  affects  me  very  deeply." 

He  looked  at  her,  and  saw  that  she  was  speaking  from 
her  heart,  and  not  merely  with  the  intention  of  comforting 
him;  and  the  suspicions  he  had  once  entertained,  that  it 
was  for  his  position,  and  not  for  himself,  that  she  had 
married  him,  were  remembered  but  to  be  repented  of,  and 
forgotten  for  ever.  He  bent  his  head  on  hers,  and  whispered, 
"  My  treasure  above  all  other  treasures,  whatever  happens, 
I  am  not  to  be  pitied.  I  have  what  I  have  longed  for  all 
my  life — a  real,  true  love  to  depend  on." 

The  subject  of  the  lawsuit  once  begun,  it  was  of  course  a 
constant  theme  of  discussion;  but  Lord  Teviot  was  too 
feeble  to  take  any  active  part  even  on  a  point  of  such 
moment,  and  was  quite  satisfied  to  know  that  Lord  Eskdale 
was  acting  for  him,  and  that  Lord  Beaufort  was  staying  in 
London  solely  that  he  might  be  in  consultation  with  the 
lawyers.  The  case,  as  Mr.  Lorimer's  advisers  stated  it, 
was  a  very  simple  one.  Henry,  Marquess  of  Teviot,  had 
two  brothers,  Robert,  the  father  of  this  Henry  Lorimer, 
who  was  born,  as  had  always  been  supposed,  before  the 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  267 

marriage  of  his  parents,  and  Alfred,  father  of  the  present 
Lord  Teviot.  Lord  Robert  and  Lord  Alfred  both  died 
young,  and  on  the  death  of  Henry,  Lord  Teviot,  the  title 
and  estates  passed  to  the  heir  presumptive,  Lord  Alfred's 
son.  Henry  Lorimer  now  asserted  that  he  had  only 
recently  discovered  that  his  parents  were  married  some 
months  before  his  birth,  and  in  proof  of  this,  he  produced  a 
certificate  of  the  marriage  of  Lord  Robert  Lorimer  to  Emma 
Scot,  in  January  1 8 — ,  and  a  registry  of  the  birth  of  their 
son,  Henry  Lorimer,  in  the  following  August.  He  could 
not  undertake  to  explain  why  he  had  not  at  once  succeeded 
to  the  title  on  his  uncle's  death,  but  Lord  Robert  was  on 
bad  terms  with  his  two  brothers,  owing  to  the  disreputable 
connection  he  had  made;  and  he  had  probably  never 
informed  them  that  it  had  ended  in  a  marriage.  Both 
parents  had  died  nearly  at  the  same  time;  he  had  been 
left,  when  only  three  years  old,  to  some  of  his  mother's 
relations ;  and  he  affirmed  that  it  was  only  on  the  recent 
death  of  the  old  aunt  who  had  taken  charge  of  him  that 
he  had  found  the  certificate  of  his  mother's  marriage. 

All  this  sounded  plausible  enough;  but  Lord  Beaufort 
wrote  in  good  spirits,  and  said  that  the  lawyers  were 
sanguine,  and  that  there  had  already  been  two  or  three 
faint  offers  of  a  compromise,  which  confirmed  them  in  the 
idea  that  Mr.  Lorimer  had  but  a  weak  case,  and  that  they 
were  waiting  impatiently  for  Lord  Teviot's  return  to 
London,  when  he  would  probably  be  able  to  direct  them  in 
their  search  for  family  papers,  and  to  point  out  old  servants 
or  friends  of  the  family,  whose  evidence  would  be  important. 

So  Helen  sometimes  took  a  very  obstinate  line  of  dis- 
belief, at  others  she  would  try  to  make  Lord  Teviot  laugh 
by  the  plans  she  proposed  to  execute,  if  they  were  reduced 
to  poverty,  which  she  of  course  represented  as  extreme, 
Lord  Teviot  digging  and  ploughing  for  his  life,  and  she 
cooking  and  ironing  for  hers,  in  a  picturesque  brown  stuflf 


268  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

gown  with  short  sleeves  and  white  cuffs,  and  a  little  pink 
silk  half-handkerchief  tied  either  round  her  throat  or  under 
her  chin — she  did  not  exactly  know  which,  but  all  reduced 
heroines  wore  pink  silk  handkerchiefs,  it  was  de  rigueuTy 
after  any  loss  of  fortune.  Lord  Teviot  would  not  of  course 
object  to  the  accustomed  suit  of  velveteen. 

No,  he  had  an  old  shooting  jacket,  which  would  do  well 
enough  on  ploughing  days;  but  he  did  not  think  that  at 
the  worst  they  should  be  reduced  to  those  extreme  straits. 
Perhaps  Helen  could  sketch  out  a  life  for  them  a  few  grades 
above  that. 

"  Oh  yes,  dear,  with  the  greatest  ease.  You  would  not 
like  to  keep  a  shop?  " 

"  Not  at  all,  thank  you." 

"  Nor  L  Could  we  afford  to  rent  this  dear  little  Laurel 
Cottage,  Teviot?"  He  nodded.  "Oh!  then  nothing 
can  be  pleasanter  than  our  prospects.  I  shall  take  care  of 
you  till  you  are  strong,  and  walk  with  you,  and  we  can 
occasionally  afford  ourselves  a  drive  in  a  gig.  Phillips  does 
already  the  work  of  butler,  valet,  and  footman ;  and  as  for 
Tomkinson,  no  maid-of-all-work  could  have  worked  harder 
than  she  has  during  your  illness.  Seriously,  Teviot,  it 
is  very  easy  to  find  fault  with  servants,  and  to  be  always 
abusing  them,  as  most  of  us  do,  but  when  illness  or  anxiety 
comes,  how  kind  and  thoughtful  they  are !  Those  two  have 
been  indefatigable  in  their  care  of  you,  keeping  the  house 
quiet,  running  for  doctors  at  all  hours,  inventing  extempore 
meals ;   in  short,  acting  like  friends." 

"Yes,"  said  Lord  Teviot,  "I  have  observed  them; 
Phillips  has  been  my  servant  ever  since  I  left  school,  and  I 
knew  his  merits;  but  your  little  fly-away  maid,  with  her 
curls  and  graces,  has  quite  astonished  me.  She  is  so  staid 
and  thoughtful,  and  the  little  woman  actually  cried  when 
she  attempted  to  make  me  a  congratulatory  speech  the 
day  I  came  into  this  room.     Of  course  we  must  make  them 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  269 

some  handsome  present ;  and  in  the  meanwhile,  there  is  a 
parcel  of  fine  lace  somewhere  amongst  my  boxes,  which  I 
collected  for  you.  I  dare  say  we  could  find  something  there 
that  would  please  your  Mrs.  Tomkins " 

"  Tomkinson,  dear;  she  is  extremely  distressed  that  you 
do  not  know  her  name,  and  I  believe  thinks  you  might  just 
as  well  call  mamma  Lady  Esk." 

The  parcel  was  soon  found,  and  when  Lord  Teviot  sent 
for  Mrs.  Tomkinson,  and,  addressing  her  by  her  proper 
name,  presented  her  with  a  beautiful  lace  shawl,  adding 
his  warm  thanks  for  her  excellent  nursing,  she  was  com- 
pletely overcome.  After  rushing  up  to  her  room,  and 
taking  a  long  survey  of  herself,  she  burst  into  a  flood  of  tears, 
and  then  went  down  to  the  kitchen  and  made  a  cup  of 
arrowroot  flavoured  with  a  double  allowance  of  brandy, 
which  she  sent  up  with  her  duty  to  his  lordship,  and  then 
returned  to  her  looking-glass,  which  she  visited  at  every 
spare  moment  during  the  rest  of  the  day,  snatching  one 
half-hour  for  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Nelson,  in  which  my  lord's 
convalescence  and  real  guipure,  and  my  lady's  goodness 
and  the  becomingness  of  black  lace,  were  much  mixed  up 
together.  The  threatened  lawsuit  had  now  got  into  the 
newspapers,  and  become  general  property;  so  Mrs. 
Tomkinson  added  a  fierce  postscript,  expressing  her  belief 
that  Mr.  Lorimer  was  "  a  vile  imposture,"  and  her  hopes 
that  she  should  live  to  see  him  hanged  for  forgery,  and  she 
should  certainly  not  wear  her  black  shawl  as  mourning  for 
him  indeed. 


CHAPTER  XLVI 

OwnNG  either  to  the  arrowroot  made  by  the  grateful 
Tomkinson,  or  the  excitement  of  the  lawsuit,  or  the  excel- 
lence of  Lord  Teviot's  constitution,  his  strength  returned  so 
rapidly  that  his  removal  to  Teviot  House  admitted  of  no 
further  difficulty.  Helen  quitted  her  dear  Laurel  Cottage 
with  some  unwillingness,  but  was  obHged  to  own,  when  she 
reached  home,  that  there  were  advantages  in  a  large 
luxurious  house  which  she  should  be  unwilling  to  forgo. 
Lord  Teviot  sent  his  secretary,  Mr.  Le  Geyt,  down  to  St. 
Mary's,  to  examine  the  chests  of  family  papers  that  had 
accumulated  there,  and  in  the  meanwhile  the  foreign  affairs 
in  which  he  had  been  engaged  gave  him  all  the  occupation 
to  which  he  was  equal.  Mr.  G.  came  to  see  him  im- 
mediately; entered  with  sense  and  friendliness  into  the 
affair  of  the  lawsuit,  to  which,  however,  he  did  not  attach 
great  importance.  He  said  he  had  seen  too  much  of  life 
to  believe  in  these  sudden  discoveries  of  marriage  certifi- 
cates. A  certificate  that  was  worth  anything  was  never 
missing  for  five-and- twenty  years ;  and  the  old  aunt,  if  she 
were  worth  anything,  would  have  produced  it  long  before. 
He  felt  sorry  for  whatever  might  give  that  perfect  angel, 
Lady  Teviot,  a  moment's  anxiety,  but  was  convinced  it 
would  soon  be  ended ;  and  in  the  meanwhile  Lord  Teviot 
must  contrive  to  be  well  enough  to  take  office  before  Parlia- 
ment met.  Other  acquaintances  called,  some  with  the 
gloomiest  faces  and  forebodings ;  some  with  an  affectation 
of  considering  the  point  decided  in  favour  of  Mr.  Lorimer, 
and  taking  a  degree  of  modest  credit  to  themselves  for  still 

270 


THE   SEMI- ATTACHED   COUPLE  271 

adhering  to  their  poor  fallen  friends ;  but  many  with  a  real, 
hearty  interest  in  what  they  called  the  real  Teviots;  and 
these  true  friends  never  vexed  Helen  by  retailing  to  her 
any  of  the  ill-natured  remarks  made  by  the  false  ones. 

Lady  Portmore's  strength  of  purpose  had  given  way,  on 
the  defalcation  of  one  of  her  corps  dramatique,  who  had 
been  summoned  home  suddenly,  and  Harry  Lorimer  was 
established  as  Paul  Pry  in  esse,  and  Lord  Teviot  in  posse,  at 
Portsdown.  She  wished  to  make  a  great  mystery  of  this, 
but  Mr.  Lorimer  took  care  to  have  the  playbills  of  the 
private  theatricals  forwarded  to  the  newspapers;  and 
Helen  would  have  been  more  than  mortal  if  she  had  not 
delighted  in  the  scornful  smile  with  which  Lord  Teviot  read 
the  name  of  H.  Lorimer,  Esq.,  in  the  list  of  the  "  brilliant 
circle  "  assembled  at  Portsdown. 

This  was  the  last  act  of  that  series  of  trials  which  had  had 
the  effect  of  bringing  the  husband  and  wife  into  the  closest 
bonds  of  confidence  and  aflfection.  The  very  next  morning 
Lord  Beaufort,  who  had  continued  to  act  for  his  brother- 
in-law,  rushed  into  the  room  with  a  bundle  of  papers,  the 
result  of  Mr.  Le  Geyt's  researches,  and  docketed  by  the 
late  Lord  Teviot — "  Letters  from  my  brother  Lord  Robert 
respecting  his  marriage."  The  last  letter,  written  on  his 
death-bed,  from  an  obscure  village  on  the  south  coast, 
announced  that  his  infant  heir  had  followed  its  mother  to 
the  grave,  where  he  himself  must  shortly  join  them ;  and 
he  implored  his  brother  to  show  some  kindness  to  the 
unfortunate  boy  he  left  behind  him.  "  I  gave  him  the 
Christian  name  which  has  always  been  given  to  the  males 
in  our  family,  in  conjunction  with  my  own,  and  though  he 
has  no  legal  right  to  be  so  called,  it  is  a  Harry  Lorimer 
whom  I  commend  to  your  care.  Harry  Alfred  Lorimer, 
my  second  son,  and  heir,  has  been  taken  from  me,  and 
perhaps  I  have  no  right  to  complain  that  my  death  will  be 
a  loss  to  none  but  the  unhappy  boy  who  will  remain  a 


272  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

living  proof  of  my  guilt  and  folly."  Enclosed  were  certifi- 
cates of  his  marriage,  and  of  the  birth  and  death  of  his 
infant  legitimate  son.  Whether  the  late  Lord  Teviot,  a 
selfish,  careless  man,  ever  read  this  letter  was  doubtful. 
Certainly  he  never  acted  on  it;  and  Harry  Lorimer  grew 
up  ignorant  of  most  of  the  details  of  his  father's  history. 
Whether  he  really  believed  himself  to  be  what  he  now 
asserted,  or  merely  made  use  of  the  papers  he  had  found  on 
his  aunt's  death,  as  a  good  speculation,  wherewith  to 
extract  a  sum  of  money  from  Lord  Teviot,  is  a  mystery  that 
charity  may  leave  unravelled.  When  his  lawyer  informed 
him  that  the  papers  which  had  been  found  did  not  "  leave 
him  a  leg  to  stand  on,"  he  observed  that  he  was  not  sur- 
prised; that  he  had  begun  life  on  one  leg  only,  and  was 
only  astonished  that  he  had  stood  so  well  and  so  long  on  it. 
"  At  all  events,"  he  added,  "  I  have  had  my  fun  for  my 
money,  and  have  met  with  more  civility  during  the  last 
month  than  during  the  thirty  preceding  years  of  my 
existence.  It  is  a  shabby  world  to  live  in,  but  I  do  not  mean 
to  let  the  worshippers  of  the  rising  sun  who  took  me  up 
drop  me  again  easily.  So  I  shall  go  down  to  Portsdown. 
I  suppose  Teviot  is  not  the  sort  of  fellow  to  come  down 
handsomely  with  a  few  thousands  because  I  withdraw  my 
claims.     Is  he?  " 

The  lawyer  said  he  rather  thought  not ;  and  there  ended 
Harry  Lorimer's  dream  of  grandeur.  It  had  been  short 
and  vague,  but,  as  he  said,  "  rather  good  fun  while  it 
lasted ;  and  he  thought  it  would  enable  him  to  act  Sly  the 
tinker  with  considerable  verve^  if  Lady  Portmore  felt 
inclined  to  get  up  '  The  Taming  of  the  Shrew.'  " 


CHAPTER   XLVII 

"  Helen,"  said  Lord  Teviot,  "  now  that  this  law  busi- 
ness is  settled,  and  that  I  have  given  G.  all  my  Lisbon 
information,  I  think  it  would  be  very  desirable  to  get  away 
from  this  foggy  London.  I  shall  never  get  strong  so  long 
as  we  remain  here." 

"  I  am  sure  you  will  not,"  she  said;  "  your  doctors  are 
very  anxious  you  should  try  change  of  air,  indeed,  so  much 
so,  that  I  made  Phillips  write  some  days  ago  to  St.  Mary's, 
to  have  all  your  rooms  thoroughly  aired,  and  to  say  that  we 
should  probably  be  there  in  a  few  days." 

"  Then,  my  dear  child,  you  said  what  is  entirely  untrue. 
Certainly  you  may  go  to  St.  Mary's  if  you  have  set  your 
heart  on  it,  but  I  cannot  possibly  have  the  honour  of 
accompanying  you." 

"  Oh,  Teviot,  what  do  you  mean?     Why  not?  " 

"  Because  I  have  set  my  heart  on  going  to  Eskdale,"  he 
said,  smiling.  "  I  must  see  your  mother  and  Amelia  and 
all  the  rest  of  them  again,  and  we  shall  have  the  diversion 
of  watching  dear  old  Beaufort  making  love.  I  really 
wonder,  Helen,  you  are  not  more  eager  to  go  and  see  all 
our  own  belongings.  I  believe  you  are  ashamed  of  showing 
your  scarecrow  of  a  husband ;  but  I  want  to  go  while  I  am 
still  looking  interesting.  I  am  sure  your  mother  will 
enjoy  petting  me  and  making  much  of  me." 

"  Who  would  not,  you  darling?  "  said  Helen,  in  a  trans- 
port of  delight.  "  Oh  dear,  what  a  happy  invention  life  is, 
particularly  when  it  has  been  a  little  chequered  !  just  think 
what  a  happy  Christmas  it  will  be ;  and  how  little  we  could 
s  273 


274  THE   SEMI- ATTACHED   COUPLE 

have  expected  it  six  weeks  ago !  Teviot,  I  sometimes  think 
I  am  not  half  grateful  enough  for  all  the  blessings  I  have." 

"  Well,  they  seem  to  agree  with  you,"  he  said,  looking  at 
her  with  the  fondest  admiration.  "  I  shall  not  be  ashamed 
of  showing  my  wife.  I  flatter  myself,  Helen,  they  will 
think  you  even  handsomer  than  you  were  when  you  left 
Eskdale  on  our  wedding-day." 

"  I  should  think  so,  indeed,"  she  said,  laughing.  "  I 
hope  they  will  find  me  improved  in  all  ways,"  she  added 
more  gravely.  "  I  was  a  foolish  spoiled  child  then,  and 
now  I  am  a  happy  woman." 

Two  days  after  this  conversation,  a  large  family  party 
were  assembled  at  Eskdale:  Waldegraves,  Waldens, 
Teviots,  Ernest,  and  the  reigning  hero  and  heroine,  Beau- 
fort and  Mary.  Lord  Teviot's  appearance  had  at  first 
caused  considerable  alarm  in  the  circle,  he  looked  so  thin 
and  pale ;  but  Helen  assured  them  that  he  was  robust  now, 
compared  to  what  he  had  been,  and  that  they  would  see 
improvement  every  day.  So  they  all  set  about  expediting 
his  recovery.  Lady  Eskdale  purring  over  him,  and,  as  he 
foretold,  petting  him  from  morning  to  night;  his  sisters- 
in-law  ready  to  amuse  him  at  all  hours,  and  Helen  looking 
on  with  undisguised  satisfaction  at  the  daily  improvement 
in  his  health,  and  feeling  in  her  heart  the  enjoyment  he 
evidently  felt  in  having  become  a  favourite  member  of  a 
large  and  affectionate  family. 

"  Yes,  this  is  all  very  well,"  said  Ernest  one  morning  when 
he  was  sitting  with  the  Teviots  and  Waldens.  "  You  all 
seem  very  happy  and  settled,  and  of  course  had  a  perfect 
right  to  marry  if  you  chose  it.  But  now  here  is  Beaufort 
going  to  set  up  his  little  altar  to  domestic  felicity  (I  thought 
he  would  have  stuck  by  me) ;  and  here  am  I,  the  only  one 
of  the  family  left  in  soHtary  grandeur. 

The  last  rose  of  summer,  left  blooming  and  lone, 
All  my  lovely  companions  well  married  and  gone  ! 

I  declare  it  is  very  affecting." 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  275 

"  But  pleasant  for  you,"  said  Lord  Teviot,  "  to  have  so 
many  homes  to  go  to;  you  know  we  all  like  to  have  you, 
and  you  will  circulate  amongst  us  without  the  sUghtest 
trouble  to  yourself." 

*'  Yes ;  but  I  think  I  am  getting  too  old  now  to  be  the 
odd  man  of  the  family ;  the  dining-out  Beaufort.  And  then, 
when  I  come  home  from  one  of  your  well-lit  houses,  or 
from  my  club,  it  will  be  very  depressing  to  take  out  my 
latch-key,  and  to  find  a  deplorable  little  lamp  in  the  hall, 
which  makes  the  whole  house  smell  greasy;  and  to  have 
to  go  tumbling  up  the  dark  stairs,  to  a  darker  room.  I 
really  wish  I  were  married  too  ";  and  so  saying,  he  drew 
his  arm-chair  almost  into  the  fire,  and  tried  to  give  a  deep 
sigh. 

"  But  why  don't  you  marry?  "  said  Helen. 

"  My  dear  soul,  how  can  I  ?  you  can't  expect  me  to  go 
rushing  about  after  all  those  London  girls,  who  care  for 
nothing  but  balls,  and  expect  to  be  danced  with,  and  to  be 
handed  to  carriages  standing  miles  off;  and  above  all,  to 
have  their  cloaks  found  for  them.  How  I  loathe  a  cloak- 
room, with  No.  210  to  be  looked  for,  and  of  course  it  is 
underneath  all  the  other  wraps,  and  there  are  209  bundles 
to  be  moved  before  one  gets  at  it.  No,  I  mean  to  eschew 
balls  now  I  have  got  into  Parliament." 

"  But  there  are  plenty  of  girls  in  the  country." 

"  Vulgar,  I  fear ;  and  besides,  how  am  I  to  make  acquaint- 
ance with  them?  You  can't  expect  me  to  go  riding  about 
the  country,  calling  at  all  the  neighbours'  houses,  and 
asking  if  the  young  ladies  are  at  home.  No,  I  do  not  see 
how  I  am  to  find  a  wife ;  but  you  must  all  of  you  set  about 
arranging  it.  Les  grands  parents  always  do,  you  know,  in 
French  novels." 

"  I  very  much  doubt,  Ernest,"  said  Helen,  hesitatingly, 
"  whether  you  would  make  a  good  husband.  You  will 
excuse  me  for  mentioning  it,  but  you  are  rather  too  selfish — 
I  mean  self-indulgent." 


276  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

"Yes;  that's  just  it.  I  have  indulged  myself  to  that 
degree,  that  I  am,  as  you  mildly  observe,  Helen,  infernally 
selfish.  But  then,  you  know,  my  wife  would  be  a  part  of 
myself;  and  I  should  indulge  her,  and  we  could  both  be 
selfish  together.  So  do  find  one  for  me;  and  now  I  must 
go  and  take  my  ride.     Who  will  come?  " 

"  I  will,"  said  Lord  Teviot.  "  I  must  try  and  get  back 
to  my  old  habits.  Don't  you  think  I  might  try  a  ride, 
Helen?" 

*'  Decidedly  not.  You  know,  dearest.  Dr.  Grey  said  you 
were  on  no  account  to  go  out  in  an  east  wind ;  so  I  always 
look  at  the  weathercock  the  first  thing  in  the  morning.  It 
is  due  east,  and  bitterly  cold." 

"  But  he  said  I  was  to  take  exercise,"  Lord  Teviot 
suggested  very  humbly. 

"  Well,  then,  come  and  play  at  billiards  with  me;  as  for 
going  out  in  this  weather,  I  can't  allow  it,  love;  so  don't 
say  any  more  about  it." 

"  There !  "  said  Ernest,  as  Lord  Teviot  walked  off  to  the 
billiard-room,  with  his  arm  round  his  wife's  waist.  "  Now, 
that  is  just  what  I  want — somebody  who  knows  which  way 
the  wind  blows,  and  who  will  tell  me  what  I  may  or  may 
not  do ;  and  will  make  me  stay  at  home  when  I  want  to  go 
out,  and  vice  versa.  Just  see  how  it  has  improved  Teviot: 
he  used  to  look  as  black  as  thunder  on  the  slightest  con- 
tradiction, and  now  he  is  the  mildest  of  men,  and  looks 
radiant  when  Helen  vouchsafes  to  snub  him.     It  is  strange." 

"Not  very,"  said  Amelia;  "he  sees  that  her  whole 
heart  is  given  up  to  him ;  and  till  he  married,  he  never  was 
really  cared  for  by  anybody.  He  had  neither  mother  nor 
sisters;  and  the  rest  of  the  world  only  flattered  him. 
Dear  little  Nell  loves  him — that  makes  all  the  difference,  as 
you  will  see  when  Mrs.  Ernest  appears." 

"  I  suppose  it  does,"  said  Ernest;  and  this  time  he  really 
sighed,  and  went  off  to  his  solitary  ride. 


THE   SEMI- ATTACHED   COUPLE  277 

It  almost  seemed  as  if  Lady  Eskdale  must  have  overheard 
the  foregoing  conversation,  for  when  she  returned  from  her 
drive,  she  brought  EHza  Douglas  with  her.  The  great 
election  feud  had  nearly  died  out.  Mr.  Douglas  had  never 
wished  to  prolong  it,  and  was  in  his  heart  rather  pleased 
with  a  defeat  which  left  him  free  to  live  with  his  cows  and 
sheep  and  turnips;  and,  moreover,  he  liked  the  society  of 
the  Eskdales,  and  had  a  general  hatred  of  neighbourly 
quarrels.  Lord  Teviot's  dangerous  illness  had,  as  was  said 
before,  roused  Mrs.  Douglas's  latent  tenderness  for  Helen, 
and  softened  her  towards  Lady  Eskdale.  She  said,  indeed, 
that  it  might  eventually  be  a  great  advantage  to  Helen  to 
get  rid  of  such  an  ill-tempered  man,  who  was  not  even 
what  he  had  pretended  to  be,  probably  not  Lord  Teviot 
at  all ;  and  who,  if  he  lived,  would  most  likely  be  a  pauper; 
but  still,  there  was  something  melancholy  in  Helen's  story ; 
and  she  thought  it  would  be  only  neighbourly  to  call.  And 
the  first  step  made,  the  others  were  not  difficult.  The  visit 
was  returned.  Lady  Eskdale  looked  ill  and  harassed, 
which  put  Mrs.  Douglas  into  extreme  good  humour.  The 
failure  of  Mr.  Lorimer's  pretensions  to  the  title  was  rather  a 
trial;  but  Lord  Teviot  was  civil  and  subdued,  and  Helen 
was  so  radiant  with  happiness  that  she  was  affectionate 
even  to  Mrs.  Douglas;  and  altogether  that  lady  was  in  a 
better  disposition  towards  the  Eskdales  than  she  had  been 
before  the  election.  She  had  missed  them  as  objects  of 
observation,  and  had  wanted  somebody  to  find  fault  with. 

So  when  Lady  Eskdale  invited  Eliza  to  return  with  her  to 
the  Castle  for  a  few  days,  no  objection  was  made,  and 
Eliza  set  off  in  a  most  hopeful  state  of  mind.  Her  Extract 
Book,  carefully  padlocked,  accompanied  her,  and  it 
seemed  likely  that  its  gloomy  contents  might  be  enlivened 
with  a  few  sonnets  to  "  Hope,"  and  "  Peace  of  mind." 

"  Did  you  tell  my  aunt  to  ask  her?  "  whispered  Ernest  to 
Helen,  as  they  sat  down  to  dinner  nearly  opposite  to  Eliza. 


278  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

"  Certainly  not,"  she  said,  laughing;  "  she  is  a  nice  little 
thing ;  and  I  shall  decidedly  interfere,  if  you  begin  that 
course  of  philandering  you  pursued  at  St.  Mary's." 

"  My  dear  Helen,  I  do  not  know  what  is  the  feminine  of 
the  word  philanderer — perhaps  philanderess ;  and  I  assure 
you  she  philanderessed  with  me  in  the  most  innocent  but 
decided  manner.  But  I  won't  begin  again  till  I  feel  sure 
of  my  own  honourable  intentions." 

He,  however,  occasionally  addressed  an  observation  to  the 
opposite  side  of  the  table,  and  during  second  course  observed 
to  Helen  that  Miss  Douglas  had  a  very  pretty  hand  and 
arm;  and  by  the  time  that  dessert  was  on  the  table,  said 
he  had  made  the  discovery  that  she  had  a  good  perception 
of  a  joke,  and  smiled  intelligently.  "  I  really  think,  Helen, 
I  am  falling  in  love !  I  do  not  mean  in  the  usual  mad, 
bustling  way  in  which  most  people  set  about  it ;  but  falling 
in  love  very  creditably  for  me.     What  do  you  think?  " 

"  That  you  have  not  the  remotest  idea  even  how  to  set 
about  it ;  you  are  much  too  worldly  and  too  blase  to  appre- 
ciate or  to  please  such  a  good,  simple-minded  girl  as  that 
is;   but  as  you  are  only  in  jest,  it  does  not  much  signify." 

Ernest  laughed,  but  he  was  very  much  piqued  with 
Helen's  views  of  the  subject;  and  in  the  evening  he  took 
some  pains  to  make  himself  agreeable  to  Eliza.  But  he 
did  not  find  her  so  disposed  to  be  amused  and  interested 
as  she  had  been  at  St.  Mary's.  Mrs.  Douglas,  with  her 
usual  acuteness,  had  observed  all  that  had  passed  there, 
which  she  thought  fully  accounted  for  her  daughter's 
changed  spirits  since — and  before  Eliza  went  to  Eskdale, 
her  mother  had  spoken  to  her  seriously  on  the  subject  of 
Colonel  Beaufort's  attentions,  and  without  exactly  saying 
that  Eliza  had  invited  rather  than  encouraged  them,  had 
desired  her  upon  no  account  to  seek  his  society ;  and,  above 
all,  to  recollect  that  he  *'  was  a  regular  London  fine  man, 
without  any  heart,  and  thinking  of  nothing  but  his  own 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  279 

amusement."  In  this  opinion  Eliza  did  not,  of  course,  con- 
cur ;  but  she  most  conscientiously  acted  upon  it,  and  was  as 
reserved  in  her  manner  as  if  her  mother  had  been  sitting 
opposite  to  her  making  cutting  remarks  at,  and  on,  Ernest. 
He  was  rather  surprised  at  first  at  this  change  in  their 
relations;  then  he  became  amused  at  seeing  his  attentions 
rebuffed,  for  sometimes  he  really  took  the  trouble  of  being 
attentive  after  his  languid  fashion;  and  finally  the  slight 
difficulties  placed  in  his  way  gave  a  degree  of  zest  to  the 
pursuit,  and  Lady  Eskdale  and  her  daughters  took  great 
delight  in  watching  the  activity  with  which  Ernest  stepped 
forward  to  hand  Eliza  in  to  dinner;  and  the  patience  with 
which  he  listened  to  her  singing,  openly  avowing  that  he 
thought  music  a  mere  noise,  and  a  painful  interruption  to 
the  quiet  and  comfort  of  the  evening.  Whereupon  Eliza, 
with  a  strong  sense  of  filial  duty,  sang  and  played  with 
additional  ardour,  and  would  have  considered  herself  a 
little  martyr,  and  pitied  herself  to  a  great  amount,  had  she 
not  perceived,  with  the  keenness  common  on  such  subjects, 
that  Ernest  was,  in  fact,  far  more  really  interested  in  her 
now  than  he  had  been  at  St.  Mary's.  Page  28  of  the 
Extract  Book,  dedicated  to  the  sorrows  of  "  The  Neglected 
One,"  was  torn  out;  and  "Young  Hopes,"  a  poem  by 
"  T." — rather  trashy,  but  extremely  joyous — copied  into 
the  next  leaf  at  full  length. 


CHAPTER   XLVIII 

"  I  WANT  a  talk  with  you,  my  dearly  beloved  aunt," 
said  Ernest  one  morning,  presenting  himself  at  the  door  of 
Lady  Eskdale's  boudoir;    "  I  want  your  advice." 

"What  is  the  matter,  my  dear?  come  in.  Are  you 
bilious,  Ernest  ?  I  hope  you  have  not  got  a  touch  of  poor 
Teviot's  fever." 

**  Oh  no,  it  is  nothing  of  that  sort,  but  I  am  on  the  point 
of  taking  a  desperate  resolution,  and  I  think  your  dear 
good  soft  mind  is  just  the  thing  for  my  strong  one  to  lean 
upon.  You  see,  I  make  a  joke  of  it  to  Amelia  and  Helen, 
they  are  so  young  and  energetic.  I  never  was  either,  but 
I  am  seriously  thinking  of  marrying,  and  of  asking  Eliza 
Douglas  if  she  will  have  me." 

"  My  dear  boy,"  said  Lady  Eskdale,  who  could  not 
picture  to  herself  life  without  husband  and  children,  and 
had  never  brought  herself  to  believe  in  the  existence  of  an 
unhappy  marriage,  "  how  delighted  I  am !  I  am  ex- 
cessively fond  of  that  girl.  She  is  what  very  few  people 
are,  perfectly  artless,  and  so  thoroughly  affectionate." 

Lady  Eskdale  might  well  make  that  assertion,  for  Eliza 
felt  for  her  that  ardent  love  which  girls  in  early  youth  often 
lavish  on  a  woman  far  above  them  in  age,  position,  and 
experience,  whose  kindness  to  themselves  seems  to  be  a  dis- 
tinction which  raises  them  in  their  own  estimation,  and 
often  influences  the  whole  tenor  of  their  after-lives.  Lady 
Eskdale's  loving  nature  gave  her  this  power  over  many  of 
the  young  people  by  whom  she  was  surrounded.  They  felt 
sure  of  her  sympathy,  that  great  tie  in  all  the  friendships  of 

280 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  281 

life,  and  more  especially  valued,  when  it  is  found  in  those 
who  are  beyond  us  and  before  us  in  the  race  of  life.  Her 
gentle  and  caressing  manner  had  a  peculiar  charm  for 
Eliza,  who  lived  in  rather  a  hard  atmosphere  at  home. 
She  was  firmly  convinced  that  Lady  Eskdale's  opinion  was 
infallible;  that  she  was  more  beautiful  in  her  middle  age 
than  the  rest  of  the  world  in  their  prime ;  that  her  gown 
was  better  made,  and  her  cap  more  becoming,  than  other 
women's  caps  and  gowns;  and  that  the  very  happy  in- 
dividual whom  Ernest  might  select  as  his  wife  ought  to 
count  the  blessing  of  becoming  Lady  Eskdale's  niece  one  of 
the  brightest  ingredients  in  her  lot.  Young  people  may  be 
foolish,  perhaps  are  so  generally,  but  there  is  something 
very  attractive  in  the  warmth  of  their  grateful  little  hearts. 

"  I  am  very  glad  you  like  her,  dear,"  said  Ernest  (all 
Lady  Eskdale's  entourage  called  her  "  dear  ") ;  "  she  seems 
to  me  as  good  a  little  creature  as  ever  breathed;  pretty 
and  lady-Hke,  and  so  serviceable;  never  minds  what 
trouble  she  takes  for  other  people.  I  think  she  will  suit 
me  exactly;    we  shall  be  very  happy  together." 

Lady  Eskdale  laughed :  "  My  dear  Ernest,  you  amuse  me 
with  your  cool  way  of  taking  that  for  granted.  Eliza  is  all 
and  much  more  than  you  say,  for  she  has  great  intelligence 
and  tact." 

"  Oh  yes,  of  course,  I  forgot  to  mention  that." 

"  And  strong  principles,  which  would  lead  her  to  be  a 
good  wife  even  to  a  bad  husband ;  but  she  would  be  a  very 
unhappy  wife  with  a  husband  who  did  not  care  for  her. 
Ernest,  I  never  expect  to  see  you  very  much  in  love,  though 
I  believe  you  affect  to  be  colder  than  you  really  are,  but  are 
you  quite  sure  you  really  care  enough  for  my  dear  little 
Liz?" 

"  Quite  sure,"  he  said,  speaking  with  more  energy  and 
warmth  than  was  his  custom.  **  As  you  say,  I  am  not  the 
sort  of  fellow  who  takes  a  romantic  view  of  things,  but  the 


282  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

freshness  and  truth  of  Miss  Douglas's  mind  have  a  great 
charm  for  me.  I  see  how  easily  she  may  be  made  happy, 
and  I  am  certain  that  I  could  never  have  for  any  of  the 
hackneyed  conventional  set,  in  which  it  has  been  my  good 
fortune  to  dwell,  the  same  attachment  that  I  have  for  her. 
You  will  see,  dear,  that  we  shall  be  a  couple  after  your  own 
heart." 

"  You  seem  to  have  no  doubt  that  she  will  accept  you  !  " 
said  Lady  Eskdale,  smiling. 

"  None  whatever.  I  suppose  I  ought  to  say  I  have ; 
but  you  and  I  have  souls  above  that  shallow  sort  of  pretence ; 
and  as  for  Liz  (I  mean  to  call  her  Liz,  it  is  such  a  nice  short 
name) ,  she  has  not  a  pretence  in  her.  Half  the  fun  of  my 
proposal  will  be  to  see  her  look  of  delight.  She  is  so  easily 
pleased ;   that  is  one  of  her  great  merits." 

"  Well,  dear  Ernest,"  said  Lady  Eskdale,  who  could  not 
help  laughing,  "  you  know  best  what  will  make  you  happy, 
and  your  choice  pleases  me  particularly;  but  there  is  one 
more  circumstance  to  be  considered,  your  future  wife's 
family." 

"  Ah,  true,"  he  said;  "  that  is  a  consideration;  but  old 
Douglas  is  a  thorough  gentleman,  and  I  like  him;  and  as 
for  the  mother,  she  won't  require  me  to  be  extravagantly 
fond  of  her ;  and  if  she  occasionally  squeezes  a  few  drops  of 
lemon-juice  into  my  stagnant  cup,  it  will  be  rather  an 
advantage.  I  shall  effervesce.  I  do  not  dislike  ill-natured 
women;  they  are  amusing  at  all  events.  Besides,  a  dis- 
agreeable mother-in-law  is  a  very  common  crook  in  every 
man's  lot,  and  I  generally  contrive  to  make  my  crooks  sit 
very  light ;  so  thank  you,  dear,  for  having  listened  to  me  so 
patiently.     I  will  let  you  know  the  moment  I  am  engaged." 

He  did  not  give  himself  any  great  trouble  to  force  an 
opportunity  for  his  proposal,  but  was  really  more  fidgety 
and  nervous  in  manner  than  was  usual  with  him.  Lady 
Eskdale,  with  apparent  carelessness,  asked  Eliza  to  fetch 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  283 

her  some  flowers  from  the  conservatory,  and  there  Ernest 
followed  her,  and  a  very  few  words  on  his  part  joined  the 
destinies  of  two  people  about  as  unlike  to  each  other,  in 
habits,  dispositions,  and  sentiments,  as  they  could  well  be; 
but  not  the  less  likely  on  that  account  to  be  very  happy  in 
their  married  state. 

Ernest  was  sincerely  charmed  with  the  shy  but  almost 
grateful  assent  given  to  his  declaration  by  the  lady  of  his 
love ;  and  he  was  in  an  animated  state  of  spirits  when  he 
led  Eliza  back  to  Lady  Eskdale,  and  said,  "  We  have  for- 
gotten your  flowers,  dear,  but  I  have  brought  you  a  new 
niece,  and  you  must  make  much  of  her,  and  coax  her,  for 
she  is  rather  nervous,  poor  little  soul." 

Any  deficiency  in  the  art  of  coaxing  could  not  possibly 
be  attributed  to  Lady  Eskdale,  and  she  soon  soothed  the 
agitated  girl  into  composure ;  and  when  Eliza  had  whispered, 
"  I  am  so  happy,  too  happy,  but  I  must  go  to  papa  and 
mamma,  and  you  must  go  with  me,  my  dear,  kind  friend," 
the  bell  was  rung,  and  the  carriage  ordered,  and  in  a  short 
time  the  lovers  and  the  chaperon  were  on  their  way  to 
Thornbank. 

That  the  consent  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Douglas  was  heartily 
given  need  not  be  doubted;  and  perhaps  the  most 
remarkable  facts  of  this  remarkable  day  were,  that  Colonel 
Beaufort  so  little  liked  the  idea  of  being  separated  from 
"  Liz  "  that  he  requested  his  aunt  to  send  his  servant  and 
his  things  over  to  Thornbank,  and  settled  himself  there,  to 
be  feted  and  worshipped,  without  even  ascertaining  whether 
the  cookery  were  good,  or  the  spare  rooms  comfortably 
furnished :  the  second  fact  was,  that  Mrs.  Douglas  was  in 
a  state  of  such  intense  felicity  that  when  Lady  Eskdale 
drove  off,  she  observed  to  Colonel  Beaufort,  "  How  wonder- 
fully handsome  your  aunt  is  looking  to-day!  even  Mr. 
Douglas,  who  thought  her  altered  the  last  time  he  saw  her, 
must  own  she  looks  very  young  for  her  age." 


284  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

Colonel  Beaufort's  insouciance  seemed  to  have  a  peculiar 
fascination  for  Mrs.  Douglas.  It  was  a  novelty  in  her 
experience  of  life ;  he  was  so  smooth  that  she  ceased  to  be 
rough;  and  to  Eliza's  intense  delight,  she  saw  her  mother, 
who  had  seemed  for  two  or  three  days  rather  puzzled  by 
his  careless  way  of  announcing  his  intentions,  and  the 
deliberate  calmness  with  which  he  seemed  to  expect  they 
would  be  carried  out,  gradually  yield  to  his  gentlemanlike 
selfishness.  At  first  with  a  slight  sneer  at  herself,  or  him ; 
but  by  degrees  she  took  interest  in  pleasing  him,  and  felt  a 
degree  of  pride  in  seeing  a  man  of  such  fastidious  habits 
and  manners  perfectly  happy  at  Thornbank.  There  is 
nothing  so  catching  as  refinement,  and  Mrs.  Douglas  began 
to  act  up,  as  well  as  she  could,  to  Colonel  Beaufort's  habit  of 
keeping  the  surface  smooth.  His  gentle  way  of  ignoring  the 
complaints  she  was  given  to  make  of  her  servants,  neigh- 
bours, etc.,  had  a  much  better  eflfect  in  checking  them  than 
argument  or  contradiction ;  and,  with  all  his  indolence,  he 
was  so  naturally  courteous  that  she  found  herself  treated 
with  a  degree  of  easy  kindness  which  few  people  had  ever 
ventured  to  show  her.  It  tamed  her,  and  she  fell  slightly — 
and  with  the  most  perfect  propriety — slightly  in  love  with 
her  intended  son-in-law,  and  assured  Eliza  that  she  was 
a  very  fortunate  girl,  and  once  or  twice  went  the  length  of 
reproaching  her  for  not  attending  sufficiently  to  Ernest's 
wishes  and  fancies.     This  delighted  him. 

"  Poor  little  Liz,  v/ho  does  nothing  but  try  to  please  me, 
from  morning  to  night,  to  be  reproached  with  hard- 
heartedness!  Never  mind,  dear;  I  do  you  perfect  justice, 
and  think  there  never  was  such  a  good  little  angel  before 
on  this  earth." 

In  his  walks  with  Mr.  Douglas,  a  new  idea  struck  him. 
He  had  long  felt  that  he  ought  to  live  more  on  his  estate; 
but  had  always  alleged  that  he  fell  into  a  lethargy  when  he 
was  there,  from  which  he  could  only  be  roused  by  imme- 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  285 

diate  change  of  scene.  But  Mr.  Douglas's  interest  in  his 
farm,  and  his  crops,  and  his  labourers,  and  his  cattle,  led 
him  to  think  that  a  little  active  occupation,  added  to  the 
society  of  his  wife,  might  make  a  few  months,  even  in 
Lincolnshire,  endurable. 

*'  Liz,"  he  said  one  day,  after  a  saunter  through  the  home 
farm,  "  would  you  like  to  live  in  the  country?  " 

*'  Why,  Ernest,  I  have  never  lived  anywhere  else ;  of 
course  I  should." 

"  But,  you  know,  we  must  be  in  London  during  the 
session." 

*'  Well,  I  should  enjoy  that  still  more.  I  have  been  so 
little  in  London." 

"  What  a  child  you  are  for  enjoying  everything.  I 
declare  it  is  quite  refreshing.  But  what  I  mean  is,  that  I 
think  we  ought,  instead  of  going  loitering  about  during  the 
recess  at  other  people's  houses,  try  to  live  in  that  dreary  old 
barracks  in  the  Fens,  which  calls  itself  my  estate,  and 
rejoices  in  the  cockney  name  of  Belleville,  a  name  evidently 
derived  from  '  blue  devils,'  a  malady  from  which  I  have 
suffered  considerably  there.  But  I  think  there  would  be 
some  amusement,  if  I  followed  your  father's  example,  and 
took  part  of  the  farm  into  my  own  hands." 

"  And  I  can  help  you  to  keep  your  accounts.  I  keep  all 
papa's  farm  books  in  order." 

"No;  do  you  really?"  he  said,  looking  at  her  with 
extreme  admiration.  "  That  takes  away  my  only  diffi- 
culty. I  did  not  feel  up  to  grappling  with  account-books ; 
but  if  you  will  take  those  in  hand,  we  shall  do  very  well." 

"  And  may  I  have  a  school  in  the  village,  Ernest?  " 

"  Of  course,  my  child,  two  or  three  if  you  like — one  for 
boys,  one  for  girls,  and  one  for  adults,  as  great  overgrown 
men  and  women  choose  to  call  themselves  when  they  want 
to  learn  to  read.  Only  don't  ask  me  to  come,  Liz,  to  hear 
them  stammer  and  stumble  over  their  chapters  and  their 


286  THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE 

sums;  besides,  I  shall  be  busy  with  the  farm.  I  must 
liave  some  pigsties  like  your  father's.  I  never  saw  anything 
equal  to  the  comfort  of  those  Chinese  pigs,  all  brushed  and 
cleaned,  with  their  eyes  obliterated  by  fat,  and  lying  on  their 
clean  beds  of  straw,  quite  unequal  to  the  fatigues  of  stand- 
ing. I  quite  envied  them.  I  have  tried  various  amuse- 
ments without  much  success ;  but  I  am  convinced  now  that 
my  real  vocation  is  for  Parliament  and  pigs.  Yes,  we  will 
go  to  our  own  country  place,  and  get  your  father  and 
mother  to  come  to  us.  Mrs.  Douglas  will  help  you  to  set  up 
your  schools,  and  your  father  will  superintend  the  erection 
of  my  pigsties,  and  we  shall  all  be  as  happy  as  the  day  is 
long." 

"  I  have  no  doubt  of  that,"  said  Eliza;  "  and  perhaps 
Lady  Eskdale  will  come  and  see  us.  Only  think  of  the 
pleasure  of  having  her  staying  with  us !  " 

"  Of  course  she  will  come,"  he  said;  "  and  now  we  must 
give  your  mother  a  hint  to  hurry  on  that  trousseau;  and 
then  we  can  all  go  to  Eskdale,  and  our  wedding  will  come 
off  with  Beaufort's." 

And  so  it  was  arranged.  Mrs.  Douglas  immediately  set 
to  work  to  execute  Ernest's  directions,  that  she  would  exert 
her  own  excellent  taste,  and  make  Liz  the  best-dressed 
woman  in  England,  with  the  greatest  possible  expedition ; 
and  as  Mr.  Douglas  made  no  objection  towards  furnishing 
the  necessary  means,  she  found  no  difficulty  in  her  way. 

There  is  little  more  now  to  be  said  of  the  family  whose 
veracious  history  has  been  here  given.  The  cousins  were 
married  on  the  same  day,  in  the  chapel  at  the  Castle ;  and 
on  the  marriage  of  her  own  daughter  Mrs.  Douglas  made 
no  complaints  of  the  coldness  of  the  pavement,  or  the  glare 
of  the  painted  windows ;  and  even  preserved  a  total  silence 
on  the  subject  of  Lord  Eskdale's  grey  hair.  As  the  two 
couples  drove  off  on  their  respective  wedding  tours,  Amelia 
turned  to  Helen  and  said,  "  Well,  there  is  no  use  in  trying 


THE   SEMI-ATTACHED   COUPLE  287 

to  calculate  the  amount  of  happiness  married  people  will 
enjoy  from  their  conduct  when  they  are  lovers.  There  were 
Walden  and  I,  who  both  fell  in  love  at  first  sight,  we  are 
happy.  Beaufort  and  Mary  began  by  hating  each  other; 
they  are  happy.  In  Ernest's  case,  the  love  was  all  on  the 
lady's  side ;  and  now,  did  anybody  ever  see  a  man  in  such 
a  state  of  felicity  as  he  is?  and  as  to  you  and  Teviot,  dear 
Nell,  the  love  was  all  on  the  gentleman's  side,  and  yet " 

"  We  are  decidedly  the  happiest  couple  of  the  four, 
only  that  poor  Teviot  is  a  little  henpecked;  are  not  you, 
darling?  " 

"Not  a  little,"  he  said,  smiling;  "but  I  like  it.  All 
men  do.  But  the  truth  is,  Amelia,  that  all  you  Beauforts 
have  been  brought  up  in  a  domestic  atmosphere.  Lord 
and  Lady  Eskdale  are  a  model  couple,  and  you  have  all 
been  so  accustomed  to  happy  homes  that  when  you  are 
taken  from  one,  you  immediately  set  about  making  another. 
And  I  must  own  you  succeed." 


THE   END. 


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